


You Belong With Me

by NoBloodNoCookie



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Henelope brotp, Next Door Neighbors, father-in-law Alaric, it's kinda funny, lovesick Penelope, pizzie friendship, popular Josie, some shit will hurt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2020-06-25 15:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19748965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoBloodNoCookie/pseuds/NoBloodNoCookie
Summary: A world where Josie Saltzman wears short skirts, Penelope Park wears t-shirts, and Alaric already knows who his future daughter in law is.





	1. She's Cheer Captain and I'm on the Bleachers

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, it's selfishpenelope
> 
> So I saw this idea on twitter and I thought I would give it a try. 
> 
> It's not exactly based off the music video, but it definitely has the same vibes!

During one quiet night in Mystic Falls, the stars witnessed the first moment Penelope began falling for Josie Saltzman.

She had just moved in with her mom after spending many turbulent years with her dad in Malibu. If she was being completely honest, Penelope didn’t mind the move that much. She was just another nobody hidden in the crowd with only a few friends and she was sure her status would remain the same in this small town. 

Which is why she was surprised when she was instantly greeted by an eager auburn haired girl and a slightly annoyed blonde chick the moment she opens the front door of her new house. Penelope wasn’t used to people coming to her first, but her apprehension is somewhat relieved when she realizes that Hope Mikaelson from across the street and Lizzie Saltzman from the house next door were kind of nice.

After a long day of moving her stuff in and making the room at the end of the hall her own, Penelope had decided to call it a day and (after making sure her mom was asleep) carefully crawled onto the roof next to her window to gaze at the stars. One of the luxuries she’s never had before. 

There weren’t any stars to look at back in Malibu. 

Wrapping her arms around the knees that were pressed to her chest, she indulges herself in the cool night breeze as she admires the glittering sky. The tranquility of the small town, the quieter life with her mother; Penelope knew she was going to be okay. And somehow, she managed to possibly get new friends in some kind of record. 

Penelope jumped at a sudden noise in front of her. Glancing back down from the night sky, she stares at the shadowed figure that climbs out of the window next door. The first thing that Penelope noticed was that the figure didn’t have the light hair that she had expected, but hair that blended in with the night sky. Once the unfamiliar girl had settled onto the other roof, she froze as she suddenly noticed Penelope. 

Penelope gave her a small smile and an awkward wave. 

The other girl returned it with a shy smile and wave of her own. 

Penelope returned her focus back to the sky, but every once in a while she’d glance back at the girl in front of her, engrossed with the stars above. 

The stars were beautiful, yet as she slowly sized up the girl on the other roof, she couldn’t help but stare at the brunette who shone in the moonlight and captured the attention of not only Penelope, but all of the stars, the moon, and the rest of the universe. 

Based on her previous introduction with Lizzie Saltzman, Penelope guessed that she was the (obviously) fraternal twin of the blonde, recalling the time Lizzie complained about needing more friends since her twin sister Josie was going to start abandoning her to hang out with her ‘plastic’ new cheerleading friends after recently joining the squad. 

As if she was feeling Penelope’s dark eyes on her, Josie caught her stare and Penelope shrugged bashfully to hide her embarrassment of getting caught and quickly redirected her eyes to the moon. 

They continued to bask underneath the glow of the stars; Penelope and Josie sharing their presence with the universe..and each other. 

And even though the girl on the roof across from hers probably won’t remember their shared glances and silent conversation, it was definitely a night Penelope will never forget.

* * *

_Two years later_

“Good, good, good, Penelope. You got a hold of that chord progression really fast.” Alaric smiled warmly as Penelope finished the last tidbit of “Dust in the Wind”. 

She picked up the guitar a couple months after moving to Mystic Falls. Her mother had suggested she find a new hobby before Penelope begrudgingly told her that she’d think about it, but little did she know that she’d find a new passion after her first time over at the Saltzman house. 

She was initially invited by Lizzie to hang out, but once she was caught staring at the acoustic guitar hanging on the wall by Alaric Saltzman, he enthusiastically offered to give her a try. And once she made her first strum of the strings, the rest, as they say, became history.

Penelope hummed and strummed mindlessly against the strings. “The transition to the bridge could be a little better.”

“I agree. Let’s take it from that last part of the chorus to bridge again.”

She replayed the part of the song that Alaric had instructed her to, completely focused on getting the order of the chords correctly. After she finished, Penelope looked up to see a slight frown on Alaric’s face. 

“The timing was a little off. Do it again.”

Penelope groaned and gave a once over at the clock above the doorway. “It’s six o’clock already. Can we pick this up again next time?” She didn’t wait for his response as she shrugged out of her strap and bent over to open up her guitar case. 

Alaric chuckled and watched Penelope gently place her guitar in the case. “You just want to finish early so you can see Lizzie.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“Well.” Alaric transferred the guitar from his lap its stand behind him. “Is there any girl drama you want to share? You know, since you’re _so_ impatient to see Liz.” 

“Contrary to the popular stereotype, girls don’t talk about trivial gossip all the time.”

“Come on. Is there a special girl?” Alaric teased and Penelope rolled her eyes playfully at his nosiness. She had been comfortable enough to tell him her sexuality since she wanted to play songs that felt more relatable to her and he has always been supportive (maybe a little overly supportive at times). 

“I’m starting to think you enjoy girl talk more than we do, Mr. A.”

“Well I guess it’s natural since I only live with girls.”

“Great, congratulations for receiving ‘Dad of the Year’ for trying your absolute hardest to relate to your girls despite the fact that you’ve never experienced a single menstrual cycle.” Penelope deadpanned.

Alaric grinned. “You’re right. I can’t always relate to you, but I _do_ know a thing or two about charming a lady. A nice little guitar serenade can sure make all the girls swoon. “Hey There Delilah” makes the knees go weak but “Wonderwall” goes straight to the heart.”

She laughed at his corniness. “Maybe I’ll take you up on your suggestion when I find a girl, Mr. A.”

“You would make me the proudest guitar teacher out there.” He tapped her on the head. “Anybody can sweet talk a girl, but the ones that can play them a song will capture their hearts. Music opens the mind and the soul.”

Penelope snorted. “Okay, Yoda, thanks for the tip. Can I go see Lizzie now?”

He guffawed, not wanting to keep her waiting any longer. “Yes. You can go.” Alaric walks her out of his music room. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“If Lizzie doesn’t kick me out before then.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

With her guitar case in hand, Penelope beelined up the stairs to Lizzie’s room. “Thanks for the lesson, Alaric!”

Not bothering to knock on the door, she burst into Lizzie’s room, propped her case on the wall, and plopped stomach down onto the bed next to the blonde, who was scrolling through her phone. 

“What’s up loser?”

Lizzie rolls her eyes and keeps them trained on her phone. “What took you so long?”

“Your dad was literally teaching me how to pick up girls.” Penelope laughed. 

“Seriously? That’s gross.”

“Yeah” Penelope snickers and bumped her shoulder against Lizzie’s. Lizzie still didn’t look up from her phone and Penelope had half a mind to pluck it out of her hands, but wisely decided against provoking her fiery-tempered friend. “Do you know when Hope’s coming over?”

After finishing her text message (Penelope peeked over Lizzie’s shoulder) to MG, Lizzie finally gave Penelope her full attention. "She texted me and said she was coming in an hour. She said she ‘had some things to take care off’, whatever that means.”

“Alrighty then.” Penelope opened her mouth to make a snarky comment about Hope’s lack of punctuality when a knock disrupts them.

“Hey Lizzie, do you still have my blue top?”

With their conversation paused, they craned their necks to see Josie standing in the doorway, looking expectantly at her sister and not paying any attention to the foreign visitor in the room. It stung Penelope just a little bit. 

Penelope had hoped a couple years ago that Josie and her could become friends after that one night on the roof. But alas, in a society that only cared about social status, Penelope had no chance to begin with; she was the insignificant new girl with a seemingly boring past, and Josie rose up to become Mystic Falls High’s popular sweetheart who couldn’t be friends with just anybody. They only knew each other through Lizzie and Hope but rarely interacted because Josie would rather hang out with the other cheerleaders and jocks than the two girls that she grew up with. 

Lizzie frowned. “I thought I returned it to your closet a few days ago.”

“I can’t find it anywhere.” Penelope sat back and watched as the twins conversed. The awkwardness silently pricked at her insides as she was essentially ignored and faded into the background.

“Well I’m sure that Connor’s not going to care about what top you wear when we both know that he’s more interested in what’s _underneath_.” Lizzie pointed out snidely. Penelope looked away at the mention of the brunette twin’s boyfriend. 

“Very funny.” Josie shot her an unamused glare, however, its effect was minimal with that cute pout and subtle blush on her cheeks. Her eyes drifted towards Penelope, finally noticing her in the room. “Hey Penelope.”

“Hey Josie.” Penelope turtle smiled. 

Josie redirected her attention back to her sister. “Just-nevermind. I’ll find something else to wear.” She spun on her heel to march back to her room. 

Lizzie smirked and shouted, “Because you know I’m right!”

“Shut up Lizzie!” Josie’s voice rang from down the hall. 

Lizzie’s sly grin is quickly replaced with a look of disgust when she faces Penelope again. “I don’t know what she sees in that asshole.”

“Yeah.” Penelope murmured in agreement. Of course, there’s no way a girl like Josie would stay single. And somehow that douche was the lucky one who managed to catch Josie’s attention. He definitely didn’t deserve her, and he definitely wouldn’t give Josie what she deserved, yet it was only socially acceptable and terribly cliche that the captain of the football team dated the head cheerleader.

Lizzie continued to rant, oblivious to Penelope’s discomfort.“I’m actually very surprised that Josie and Connor managed to last for two freaking years. Josie refuses to listen to me, but he’s a fuck boy through and through. But hey, it’s her fault if she contracts all of his STDs.”

Penelope didn’t have anything to say to that. 

Another knock interrupted them some time later. Once again, Josie stood by the door, wearing a white top this time. “Say hi to Hope for me.”

“Sure.”

“Bye Liz! Bye Penelope!” 

Penelope continued to stare at the doorway even after Josie was picked up by Connor at the front door. 

The night went by pretty quickly afterwards. Hope showed up just in time for Alaric’s famous fish tacos, and despite the fact that Penelope was having a good time at dinner at the Saltzman’s, she couldn’t ignore the two other empty chairs at the dinner table: one for Caroline, and one for Josie.

* * *

Mr. Williams looked down at his watch. “You have about thirty minutes to take this quiz. Your time begins now.” 

Staring blankly at the paper in front of her, Penelope snuck a quick peek at Lizzie’s paper to her right, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized that she wasn’t the only one having a hard time figuring out how to do fucking volatilization gravimetry calculations. 

She let out a string of expletives under her breath, realizing that maybe she should’ve done her chemistry homework instead of learning how to play Old Town Road from Youtube, but she had promised Hope that she’d learn how to play it for her (and _not_ because she really wanted to learn it for herself). 

After Penelope attempted to answer the first two questions, she resigned herself to her fate and a future that will include a lecture from her mom. Her eyes wandered around the room, naturally finding the back of Josie’s head at the front of the room. 

_And wow....suddenly I’m into space buns._

She doesn’t know how long she’d been staring at Josie but she’s caught off guard when she feels a vibration in her back pocket. Penelope’s eyes widen before she curses herself for forgetting to turn her phone on silent before class. 

Penelope’s sending a prayer to every variation of a God out there, hoping that it turns out to be some scammer and not the person who she thinks is calling her.

Because her ringtone for Hope Mikaelson is not exactly... school appropriate and she likes to turn the volume all the way up so she can hear it while practicing. 

Squeezing her eyes shut, Penelope braces herself as her phone starts to blast in the classroom to the tune of ‘Wheels on the Bus’. 

‘The person on the phone’s a fucking twat, fucking twat, fucking twat. The person on the phone’s a fucking twat so don’t answer this call.’ All heads turn towards her area and Penelope pretends to act nonchalant, hoping that everybody mistakes the source of the noise for someone else. 

Unfortunately, her classmates are more intuitive than she believes, because people are starting to stare at her. 

‘The person on the phone’s a stupid prick, stupid prick, stupid prick. The person on the phone’s a stupid prick so don’t answer this call.’

Penelope wants to very much die and she slowly starts to sink lower and lower into her seat, her face flaming in embarrassment. A lot of her classmates are snickering and there are some who are roaring with laughter. Based on Lizzie’s loud cackling, her blonde friend knows exactly who’s ringtone that is for. 

Out of all of days, of course Hope is calling her during a quiz, she’s known for having the absolute worst timing. Since Hope has free period during this time, occasionally, Penelope and Lizzie would call her whenever they became bored of Mr. Williams’s endless droning. She guesses she’s paying for it because karma’s unmistakably biting her in the ass today. 

‘The person on the phone talks lots of shit, lots of shit, lots of shit. The person on the phone talks lots of shit so don’t answer this call.’ The final verse blares out, and Mr. Williams is shushing everyone to calm down. As he begins to march his way to her, all of the heads in the room begin to turn towards her direction. Beside her, Lizzie giggles at her during the uncomfortable silence, and Penelope shoots her a glare before facing the teacher with a nervous chuckle.

Mr. Williams holds out an expectant hand, and Penelope sighs, humiliated as she hands her phone to him. 

“This is a warning, Penelope. I’ll give your phone back to you at the end of class.”

He strides back to his desk. Flustered, Penelope drops her head down to focus on her quiz, sends a telepathic middle finger to Hope wherever she is, and curses her dumb luck for making herself look like a goddamn idiot, especially in front of Josie.

Who’s the fucking twat now, Park?

* * *

Penelope listened to the distant sound of a whistle blown across the football field. From her spot at the top of the bleachers, she has the whole view of the football field, but she’s more interested in watching what’s happening on the sidelines. 

With her mom coming home late from work every night, and because she had no car, Penelope usually hitched a ride home with Lizzie and Hope; it was pretty convenient for her and gave them all more time to be together. On the other hand, Josie normally went to the diner with Connor and her circle of friends after school and was dropped off at home a few hours later. Today, however, Josie asked Lizzie to take her home, saying something about starting on homework early, so they had to wait for her to finish cheer practice before they could leave. 

“Hey Pen.” Hope sat down beside her and Penelope immediately turned and punched her arm. 

“Ow! What the fuck?”

“You ass. You called me in the middle of a quiz and Williams took my phone up!”

Hope bursted out laughing. “Oh yeah. Lizzie told me what happened. Serves you right for keeping that shitty ‘Wheels on the Bus’ parody as my ringtone.”

“Bitch.”

With an infuriating giggle, Hope leans over to rest her head on Penelope’s shoulder. Despite being completely annoyed at the person who caused her the biggest headache of her life, Penelope knew that she can’t stay mad at her for that long. 

The two of them take in the scene of the football field and numerous practices transpiring. While Hope couldn’t care less about the sweaty guys in jerseys running aimlessly around the field, she was more amused at the way her friend was shamelessly staring at the head cheerleader. 

“You should talk to her more.” 

As much as a pain in the ass the annoying auburn haired girl is, Penelope wouldn’t trust anyone else as much as she trusted Hope. After moving to Mystic Falls, Hope was the first person that made her feel welcomed in town and quickly became her best friend. Penelope, Hope, and Lizzie eventually formed their own little trio and for the first time in her life, Penelope had friends she could count on. 

Especially Hope, who is the only other person who deals with Penelope’s secret pining after the brunette Saltzman. 

“There’s no point.”

“You don’t have to be that scared, you know? She’ll probably talk to you back.”

Penelope chuckled bitterly. “She hasn’t noticed me for two years, Hope. I’m at Lizzie’s house all the time and Josie’s probably only ever said three words to me.”

“To be fair, you’ve never tried to initiate conversations with her either.” Hope raised an eyebrow at her. 

“That’s only because I know she doesn’t want to talk to some loser like me. Just because I’m friends with Lizzie and you doesn’t mean I get a free pass.” She scoffs, looking down and fiddled with her hands. 

“How dare you talk shit about my best friend? Hope Mikaelson doesn’t stoop that low; pathetic dumbasses maybe, but not losers.” Penelope rolls her eyes good naturedly at Hope’s antics. 

Hope quickly sobers up, lifting her head and resting it in Penelope’s lap, forcing the latter to look down at her. “But in all seriousness Pen, just because you aren’t popular doesn’t mean you are a loser, okay? You’re _amazing_ at the guitar, you’re actually one of the most down to earth people I know, and even though people don’t see it as much, you’re also hot as fuck. Anybody, including Josie, would be lucky to have you.”

“Okay, Mikaelson, you didn’t have to declare your love for me.” 

“If you say shit to anyone about this conversation, _including_ Lizzie, I will kill you.”

“Hopey is in love with me!” Penelope singsonged, laughing as Hope separates herself from Penelope and shoves her. 

“Fuck off.” 

Their laughter subsides and they gradually start to focus their attention back on cheer practice, watching Josie being tossed in the air by her fellow squad members.

“You can talk to her during the ride back.”

“I don’t know-”

“Just try to, okay?”

Wanting Hope to leave the subject alone, Penelope complied and huffed. “Fine.” 

Deep down, Penelope knows that nothing will ever happen between her and Josie. They’re from two different worlds. While Josie wears short skirts and had an endless selection of hairstyles, Penelope’s usual attire consists of band t-shirts and ripped jeans. Both of them looked out of place when together. And while Josie’s social circle consists of all of the dumb jocks and cheerleaders, Penelope’s friend count is two.

It’s a sad truth that she accepted a long time ago. Penelope will never be good enough for Josie’s standards. She’ll always be out of Josie’s league, but then again, does she want to be included in it? With Connor, who has nothing better to do but bully Landon Kirby whenever he’s not playing football? Or Dana Lilien, who once talked shit about Lizzie when Penelope heard her in the bathroom?

All she knows is that Josie is an angel compared to her superficial counterparts. She’s seen how close Josie is with her sister when they’re at home or how Josie makes an effort to strike up friendly conversations with Hope at school. And Josie is one of the few popular girls who are actually nice.

But that’s the thing. As nice and kindhearted Josie Saltzman is, she still has a status to maintain, and she has no time for people like Penelope. 

On the ride home, Hope continually sent subtle signals to her, encouraging her to talk to Josie in the backseat, but Penelope ignored her as she stared out the window the whole ride back. She could feel Hope’s frustration, but she doesn’t care as she listens to Lizzie rant about some teacher from the driver’s seat. Even though they’re both sitting in the back seat, Josie doesn’t even spare her a glance as she laughs at one of Lizzie’s snarky comments, and Penelope’s hating herself for being a coward and wasting another chance to talk to Josie. 

She knows those chances are hard to come by too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! There wasn't that much Posie interaction in this chapter, but it's going to pick up pretty fast in the next chapter. Lemme know what you think!


	2. Typical Thursday Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fasten your seat belts kids because the story is about to go zoOM. 
> 
> Or in other words:
> 
> The start of something new :)

Thursday nights were Penelope’s favorite.

It is a common fact that Mondays are terrible, day and night. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are filled with school stress, give or take the type of week it is. And Fridays were, in Penelope’s opinion, overhyped. She would never understand why people would be excited for designated test day of the week, and Friday nights were always the loudest. And the weekends were busy in Mystic Falls.

  
There’s a reason why Penelope prefers Thursday nights. Thursday nights meant one more step closer to a breath of fresh air. Thursday nights were thrilling in anticipation for the end of the week. And they were quiet and perfect for stargazing.

And so, every Thursday night, Penelope had a routine. She’d always start on her homework early, and after she’d finish the bare minimum to get by in school the next day, Penelope would quickly rush through her nighttime routine in order to save herself enough time. Then, she would climb onto her roof, breathe in all of the stars, and feel herself float away from the rest of the world.

  
Penelope had been enjoying the company of the sky when she heard the window pane slide up from the roof across from hers. Stunned, Penelope stared as the moonlight illuminated Josie’s immaculate features as the other girl settled herself onto the other roof.

Josie hasn’t been on the roof in two years.

The brunette caught her stare and looked back at her intently, and Penelope fought the urge to look away.

Josie looks different in this moonlight. Except the picture perfect girl that Josie portrays herself to be at school, the cracks in her image seem to be growing. Her usually bright aura is dimmed, almost resembling like a kicked puppy, and Penelope’s heart constricts for the girl because she doesn’t want to see Josie like this.

Their stare abruptly broke when Josie looked up to admire the night sky.

After a few minutes of wordlessly sitting in each other’s company, Penelope couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“You alright?”

A small smile etched the corner of Josie’s lips, however, her shoulders continued to sag defeatedly as she drowns in her solemn thoughts. Josie hesitates, the conflict obviously troubling inside her. After a brief moment, she replied. “Connor cheated on me.”

Fully aware that she was about to fall off the roof right then and there, Penelope tightens her grip on the surface, surprised that Josie’s willing to share that information with her.

Josie continued with a grimace. “I caught him with some other girl at a party last week. He didn’t even close the door. I freaked, got pissed at him, and haven’t talked to him or replied to any of his messages since then.”

Penelope shuddered at the thought of walking in on that scene, but shakes the thought out of her mind. “Are you going to break up with him?” She inquires.

“No.”

“No?” She asks in disbelief.

Josie shook her head. “It’s just one mistake. He knows what he did was wrong and I don’t think he’ll do it again. I’ll get over it.”

Honestly, Penelope used to consider Connor a plain asshole in general, but now he’s at the top of her list of the biggest fucking morons on the planet. Penelope’s frustrations boil at the fact that Josie’s easily being taken for granted by a scrub who doesn’t treat her right at all. She could feel the words itching to come out, _he’s_ _never_ _going_ _to be good enough for you_ , but she bites them back and her stomach clenches when she carelessly shrugs. “I guess it’s not my problem then.”

Another silence falls between them. She wonders if her callous response only succeeded in making things more awkward. It’s disappointing considering that this was the first time they’ve had a full conversation. Josie’s opened up to Penelope more than she ever thought she would, and she’s more than happy to listen to Josie talk about herself, except the next time the brunette twin opens her mouth, Josie switches the subject to her.

“So...you made quite a scene in chemistry class today.” Josie teases with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, Penelope’s glad for the darkness that’s shielding the flush on her face. “I was successfully repressing that mortifying experience thanks.”

Josie giggled at that and Penelope ignored the way her heart jumps at the sound.

“Who’s ringtone does that belong to?”

“....Hope.”

“Completely understandable.” Josie assures her.

Penelope laughs. “Did Hope tell you about the time she got in trouble for vandalizing the SUV for the SPED kids?”

Josie gasped. “When did this happen?”

“Last year. She said Mr. Donovan acted like a total jerk to her in his class so she wanted to get even with him. Turns out she spray painted, “keep your booger hooks away from the kids, dickwad” on the wrong SUV.”

Josie bursted out laughing. “That’s horrible. And it totally sounds like something Hope would do. I wouldn’t know how I would live with myself if I ever got caught doing something like that.”  
“Really?” Penelope shot her an amused expression. “You don’t go around creating chaos with your fellow miscreants?” She and Hope have pulled many dumbass shit the past two years, but Connor and his friends are no strangers to idiocy.

Josie smiled and shook her head. “Nah. I like to leave that to them. They’re fun to watch, but not worth the trouble once you get caught.”

Penelope hummed. “Of course. Alaric’s perfect daughter wouldn’t be caught dead slashing some tires when her whole future would be in jeopardy.”

The girl on the other roof went quiet for a moment before she admitted. “My life’s not as perfect as everyone else wants to believe. No one else believes that in reality, I have problems like everybody else. I’m not that great. I’m imperfect.”

Penelope rested her chin onto her knees and tilted her head. “Tell me something imperfect about you then.”

“I-uh.” Josie seems taken aback, like it’s the first time she’s ever really talked to somebody about this.

“Okay. Well, um...the first thing I can think of is that I can be really passive-aggressive at times when I don’t mean to be. I’m also a moody person. I feel bad whenever one of Connor’s friends or someone on the squad is being mean to someone else and I just stand by and do nothing. And sometimes I think that other people feel like they can do anything that remotely upset me and I’m expected to be fine with it because that’s what I’m supposed to do, you know? I’m not supposed to be bothered by anything because I’m this perfect person with no problems.”

Josie let out a huff after her rant and Penelope gathered her own thoughts before speaking. “I can be detached. Disconnected. Most of the time, I don’t take things as seriously as I should be. I can be selfish at times. And my dad once called me 'an entitled brat who ruins everything.’”

Josie gives her a confused, questioning look and appears to be genuinely concerned at that last part, but Penelope continues.

“The point I’m trying to make is that while we all have things to deal with, you shouldn’t feel insecure of the things you consider to be your flaws. Don’t try so hard to keep them inside because it’s not healthy. I know I’m not a perfect person and I’m sure as hell not going to act like I am for other people. People tend to forget that it’s important to take care of themselves because how much energy are you gonna leave for yourself if you’re going to burn out by always catering to other people?”

She sees Josie looking back at her, taking in every word with a thoughtful expression.

The corner of her lips slightly curve up. “I think you’re great, Josie. You just need to believe that too.”

A broad smile widens on Josie’s face that she tries to hide behind her hand. “Thanks.”

After a while of watching the night sky, Josie cleared her throat. “Well, um. This has been kind of nice, but it’s really late and I should go back inside.”

She nods her head with a lopsided grin. “Good talk.”

Josie smiles. “Goodnight Penelope.”

“Night, Saltzman.”

As Josie quietly crawled back into her room and slides her window shut, Penelope looked up towards the sky.

Why does it seem like the moon is shining brighter than ever before?

* * *

When Penelope comes over to the Saltzman house for her usual Wednesday lesson, she’s immediately concerned when she hears a great deal of screaming upstairs.

She pauses mid lesson and gives Alaric a questioning look.

“Apparently it has something to do with Connor.” Alaric enlightened her as he scratched the back of his neck. “I’m honestly unsure if I need to go ‘scary dad’ on Connor or have Caroline give Lizzie a talk about stealing her sister’s boyfriend.”

Penelope snickered and instantly knows that Lizzie’s caught wind of Connor’s transgression.

Her blonde best friend has always been more of a confrontational type.

Alaric spots the recognition in Penelope’s eyes. “I don’t want to ask. I’m really hoping they can work it out themselves before I’m forced to get involved.”

She smirks. “Let’s just say that Lizzie’s never been a big fan of Connor.”

“Ah. I’m assuming Lizzie’s reaching for the shotgun before I do.”

“Yep. She’s going to finish the job for you.”

“If she somehow ends up in jail, Caroline’s going to be the one to bail her out. I’m too old for this.”Alaric jokes.

Penelope chortled along with him. In all seriousness, while Lizzie’s fierce loyalty was hard to earn, it was something Penelope wouldn’t trade for anything else.

Alaric hummed, clearly pensive before voicing his thoughts out loud. “I have never had a good impression on Connor. Never really liked him, but I try to stay out of Josie’s and Lizzie’s, ah, romantic entanglements. It’s their choice after all.”

Penelope eyebrows shot up. It was the first time she’s heard Alaric say anything about his kids’ love lives. She’s surprised to say the least.

They hear a screeching voice from upstairs that undeniably belonged to Lizzie. Alaric chuckled and continued. “Josie needs someone who appreciates her big heart. She’s popular among her peers, but she’s just as shy as they come. Someone who can also keep up with her intellectually as well. Connor’s not exactly the brightest kid.”

Penelope nodded her head in agreement. Alaric wasn’t one to express his opinions, especially ones about his daughters, but there was no question that he cherished his daughters and wanted them to live as happy as they can be. As cautious as he is about involving himself in their affairs, he’s not blind to the kind of frivolous things and people they’re involved with.

“What Josie lacks in judgement is made up by the fact that she’ll attract the right kind of people. Maybe not now, but she’ll learn, and she’ll find the right person that will give her the world.”

She doesn’t know what to say to him. All she knows is that if she can’t be that person for Josie, she hopes that Alaric’s words stand true and Josie finds someone completely worthy of her.

  
What Penelope doesn’t know is that Alaric already suspects who that person could be.

* * *

“Who the hell does he think he is?” Josie grumbles to herself has she angrily shoves her window open and plops down on her spot on the roof.

Startled by the sudden intrusion, Penelope quickly snaps out of her daze. “Well hello to you too.”

“Sorry. It’s just- Connor’s been on my nerves lately and I’m tired of dealing with him right now.”

Penelope knows this isn’t the first time Josie has been annoyed with Connor, but with Josie’s recent discovery of Connor’s infidelity, she figures that Josie’s finally reached at her breaking point.

However, deep down Penelope knows that no matter what Connor does, Josie is never going to break up with him. If it were any other girl, Connor would’ve almost positively been dropped long ago for being such a horrible boyfriend, but to Penelope’s chagrin, Josie is still going to stay with Connor to, at the very least, keep up appearances.

With her curiosity getting the best of her, Penelope waves her hand to get Josie’s attention.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Josie looks up hesitantly before releasing a long sigh.

“Honestly it’s kinda dumb, but he told Kaleb that high school relationships were fun but they don’t last long. He may be right because it’s kinda accurate? I just thought it was really insensitive of him to say that in front of me, especially since we’ve dated since freshmen year. He said it so carelessly and it irks me because I don’t date just for fun.”

_She’s that serious about him?_

Penelope swallows at that last part of Josie’s rambling before she feels her frustration kick in. He literally insulted his entire relationship with Josie when there were other people who would kill to take his place.

“Can I give you my honest opinion?”

Josie’s unsure at first, but then she nods and gives Penelope her rapt attention.

She feels like it’s the right time to give the other girl some sort of sign or a _dump his sorry ass_ in a flashing neon red, but Penelope chooses her next words carefully; she doesn’t want to say anything that could potentially damage Josie’s building trust in her.

“I’m not going to tell you what to do regarding your relationship, whatever you choose to do is up to you. But, I think...that you could do a lot better than him.”

Josie doesn’t respond, but Penelope knows that she doesn’t take it badly when she sees the barely there smile on the brunette’s face.

Penelope braces herself for another excruciating, awkward silence between them, but luckily for her, Josie lets out a loud sneeze.

She practices all the time with Hope so the words fall naturally out of her mouth:

“I would say god bless you but it looks like he already did.”

Snorting out, Josie bubbles with laughter and Penelope can’t fight the smirk that grows onto her face.

“Damn, Park. That was smooth.”

“Duh. Pick up lines are my forte. I’m an absolute beast at them. Classic, funny, or dirty, I can do them all. I try them on Hope all the time.”

“You practice pick up lines with Hope?” Josie snickers. “You’re such a dork.”

“Excuse you.” Penelope retorts playfully. “Connor wishes he could be as smooth _and_ clever _and_ cool as me.”

“Okay then. Give me a cliche one, right now.” Josie challenges her.

Penelope instantly thinks of the one she used on Hope at school today. “Hey babygirl, do you have a name or can I call you mine?”

Josie starts giggling. “Good job, you passed round one. Tell me a dirty one.”

She responds almost immediately. “If you’re feeling down, can I feel you up?”

Snorting out a laugh, Josie concedes. “Fine. You’re two for two. You can freestyle the next one.”

“GEICO can save you 15% or more on car insurance, but I can save you 100% if you stay in bed with me.”

Josie’s dying with laughter. “That one was really bad.”

“You can’t argue with facts, babe.” Penelope winked.

“I suppose that _was_ kinda impressive, Penny Slick.”

Penelope bursts out in laughter. “Penny Slick? What kind of name is that?”

“You know, cause your name is Penny and you’re slick with your pick up lines.”

“That sounds like a lame attempt at a rapper name.”

“No it’s not. It’s cute.” Josie giggles at the absurd nickname.

“Cute?” Penelope exaggerated gasp. “How dare you? I’m not cute.”

“Yes you are. Like a turtle.”

“Now you’re just making me depresso expresso, Jo Jo.”

Josie’s face scrunched up. “Jo Jo?”

“Yeah. Since we’re being cute with nicknames and all.”

“Don’t make fun of the nickname I made. I like it!” Josie pouts and suddenly Penelope’s lost all power to say no.

“Fine.” Penelope drags out with a sigh. “I guess I’ll allow you to call me, urm, Penny Slick.” She cringes at the name. “Only if I get to call you Jo Jo.”

“Fine.”

They lock eyes before bursting into giggles for a solid minute. Penelope gradually sobers up and asks a question she’s been meaning to ask Lizzie for a while. “How’s your mom?”

At the mention of Caroline, Josie slightly deflates. “She’s good I guess. I don’t know. We haven’t seen much of her this year because she’s been going on these long business trips out of town frequently. It just sucks because it feels like she’s gone every single time I need her.” She trails off and looks at Penelope with guilt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to dump all of my problems on you again an-”

“Hey.” Penelope gently interrupts her. “I’m more than okay listening to you, and I appreciate you opening up to me because I want to get to know you better. You tend to bottle up your emotions, Josie, so that's why I’m here. So you can let them all out. Don’t be afraid to say what you want to say, okay? You can tell me anything.”

Nodding shyly, Josie shoots her a grateful smile. “How are you so good at that? Saying the right things?”

“It’s another one of my hidden talents, Jo Jo. However, they do take a backseat behind my pick up lines.”

Josie’s infectious laugh graces her ears yet again, and as she watches the brunette girl from the other side light up with mirth, Penelope vows that Josie will always have a voice whenever she’s around her.

And honestly? She can’t get enough of it.

* * *

From that moment on, Penelope fell into a new routine, which, as bizarre as it is, now included Josie.

Every Thursday, they would both climb out of their windows at night and admire the stars together, in their separate spaces of course. They would talk until ten o’clock, which would eventually stretch to eleven, and eventually till midnight.

Josie laughs at all of her dumb dad jokes and cheesy pick up lines, blows raspberries at her when Penelope teases her, and asks her about her past life in Malibu. They exchange stories; Penelope tells her about her ridiculous banters with Lizzie and her up-to-no-good shenanigans with Hope at school, Josie reminisces about the times when her, Lizzie, and Hope used to be inseparable with a sad smile.

There are perks that come with being friends with the most popular girl at school. In fact, Penelope knows so much tea about the cheerleading squad that she can probably blackmail any of them to do her bidding (not that she’d betray Josie’s trust of course). Who’d ever thought that Sasha (homophobic comments and all) would be cheating on her boyfriend with a freshmen cheerleader of all people?

Penelope listens as Josie rants about how Connor ditches her at parties, how he honks his car instead of walking to her doorstep when he picks her up every morning for school, and how Josie wishes he would call her beautiful instead of making a lewd comment about her body. And it makes Penelope’s heart ache every time (because there aren’t any words that can describe how perfect Josie is).

And after each talk they have, Penelope learns something new about Josie.

She learns that Josie wants to travel the world after high school and would take the first offer to study abroad the moment she gets a chance. After all, this town is too small for a person like her.

She learns that Josie has a small fear of heights, and when Penelope asked her why she subjects herself to slight torture by coming up here every week, Josie blushes and responds with a “because I like talking to you” (which definitely didn’t cause Penelope to go into cardiac arrest for a hot second).

And that Josie’s favorite color is lavender, her favorite food is a peanut butter sandwich, knows all of the lyrics to “No Diggity” (Penelope got a real kick out of Josie’s ‘hood’ accent), and licks the filling of an oreo on both sides before the eating the cookie part.

When Josie starts talking to Penelope at school, it’s as if the earth shifts on its axis.

Whispered murmurs shortly become a new occurrence when Josie catches up to her in the hallways, and they continue to follow them when Josie and Penelope walk into class together. She was even invited to sit with Josie and her friends at their table during lunch one time, and she remembers sheepishly grinning at Hope’s look of surprise and Lizzie’s dismayed expression.

Josie’s friends on the cheer team aren’t that bad once she got to know them a little better. They were a little confused at first as to how Josie and Penelope suddenly became friends, but they weren’t as judgemental as Penelope thought they would be. Sure, they were a lot to get used to, and at times bitchy, but she liked talking to them more than she’d admit. And weirdly enough, they actually like her, even if they hadn’t cared to notice her during her two years at Mystic Falls High. Apparently they thought she was the most hilarious person in school when they found out about the ringtone incident, go figure. The only people from Josie’s social circle that she avoids is Dana (she’d never befriend anyone who’d say shit about Lizzie) and Connor.

Thanks to Josie’s begging, she’s also had to endure three torturous hours on the bleachers for a Mystic Falls High football game. The hype and excitement of the game is too loud for her, doesn’t understand the whole scoring system of the sport, and she had to miss stargazing for this (of all days, of course football games end up happening on her favorite day of the week), but seeing Josie smile at her from the field makes it worthwhile.

She’ll also have to get used to being screamed at in greeting from the rest of Josie’s teammates.

And it turns out that she wouldn’t have to miss stargazing, because right after the game, Josie races her straight back to their houses to see who can reach their own roof first. They make it a new routine: Penelope has to attend all of Josie’s games and afterwards, they race back in time to catch the stars.

When Penelope and Josie started getting closer as friends, Lizzie immediately pulled Penelope into her room after a lesson with Alaric to interrogate her about Penelope’s sudden closeness with her twin.

Penelope knows that Lizzie is feeling a little betrayed after seeing Penelope talk to her sister more than her the past weeks, so she explains to the blonde that Josie and her have only started talking recently since they have mutual friends in Lizzie and Hope. She assures the twin that whatever she has with Josie won’t compare to what they have (Penelope’s guilty conscious tells her that it feels like more).

It placates Lizzie in the moment, but she goes back to being agitated every time she sees Penelope and Josie together. Penelope has a feeling that Josie’s been on the receiving end of Lizzie’s tantrum as well.

Hope, on the other hand, is pretty ecstatic for her.

After having to suffer through Penelope’s “pathetic pining” for so long, Hope’s says that she’s really happy that her best friend is finally going somewhere with Josie. She makes a joke about Penelope seducing the brunette cheerleader with an acoustic version of “Bow Chicka Wow Wow” and Penelope’s about to tell her to shove it when she stops.

It may not be the worst idea Hope’s ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you guys enjoyed! 
> 
> Lemme know what ya'll think about this blossoming posie friendship!
> 
> -selfishpenelope


	3. Hey Whatcha Doin' With a Boy Like That?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guitar serenades? I think yes

Forcing out a short and calming breath, Penelope contemplated whether she should reconsider risking her life.

The gnarly tree next to the Saltzman house seemed a lot less intimidating on the outside, but looking from the ground up, Penelope’s still trying to formulate the best way to scale up the tree _with_ her guitar strapped to her back. And that wasn’t the hardest part. 

She still had to make the leap from the top of the tree to Lizzie’s window without waking the latter girl up before walking across the roof to Josie’s. 

It’s fine, if she ends up breaking her neck, at least Josie’s going to give her more attention right? 

The dumbass things she’ll do for this girl. 

“Penelope?” Josie called out into the night with a loud whisper. 

Guess she’s really doing this huh. 

“Down here!” 

Tentatively, Josie hunched a perk over the edge. “What are you doing?” She squinted in the darkness. “What is that behind your back?”

Penelope looked up at her with a grin. “My guitar. I wanna play you something but I need to get up there first.”

Josie laughed. “How are you supposed to do that? My parents are not gonna let you in because they’re sleeping.” As Penelope began walking towards the tree, Josie’s eyes widened. “Penelope no.” 

“Penelope yes.” The raven haired girl grabbed a hold of the nearest branch and lifted her foot onto the side of the tree. 

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m always serious.”

“Stop climbing! It’s too dangerous!” Josie sternly whispered from above. 

“Danger is my middle name Jo Jo. Have a little faith in me.” Penelope chuckled and now she was halfway to the top. The top of her guitar case hit a branch and her right foot momentarily slipped. 

Josie let out a frantic shriek. “Penelope Danger Park! I swear to fucking god, you better go back down right this instant!”

Penelope wrapped her arms around a thick branch and ducked as she hoisted herself up. “Damn, Jo. I’ve never heard you curse before-“ She strained as she reached the top. “It’s a good look on you.” 

“It’s not funny! You could get hurt!” 

“But...” Finally reaching the top, Penelope blew out an exhausted breath and laughed. “There! I made it in one piece. Is this the part where I say I told you so?”

Josie glared at her. “I seriously hate you right now.”

“I know.” Penelope smirked. Giving her guitar case a final kiss, she gently tossed it onto the roof. 

“Wait! Don’t ju-“

Josie held her breath as she watched Penelope leap onto the roof and released it with a frustrated sigh. 

Giggling from the thrill of it all (and Josie’s high emotions) Penelope snatched onto the handle and carefully trekked across to Josie’s side with her guitar. She sat down and smirked at the glare from the other girl. 

“You really had to scare me like that?” Josie scowled. 

“Yeah, because one of my favorite hobbies is showing off.” Penelope pulled her precious baby out of its case. “I can make bomb ass quesadillas, climb trees, come up with killer pick up lines, _and_ play the guitar. Your girl can do it all.” 

“You’re ridiculous.”

“-ridiculously talented, thanks Jo Jo.”

“I think Lizzie has rubbed off on that gigantic ego of yours.”

“That is an incredibly false statement. This ego is Penelope Danger Park trademarked baby.”

Rolling her eyes, a tiny grin was growing on Josie's face (and she wasn't doing a good job trying to hide it). “How are you supposed to get down?” 

“Climb down. Easy money.”

“Hell no, you’re not! I’m sneaking you out the back door. And if you don't like it, I'll lock you in my room.” The brunette cheerleader demanded and Penelope laughed at Josie's seriousness.

“Fineeee.” Penelope dragged out and began tuning the strings. She’s not going to tell Josie that she was about forty percent sure she was going to make that jump. “Since you’re offering.”

Releasing her last huff, Josie gave her one last glare before she softened. 

“My dad says you’re really good.” 

Penelope smiled but didn't look up as she tuned her guitar. “Tell him I said thanks.” 

Josie inched closer to Penelope and watched, adorned, as Penelope’s fingers worked their magic. “Can you teach me how to play?” 

“Uhhh.” Penelope stopped and stared at her in dumb confusion. “Can’t you just ask your dad?”

Josie lightly slapped her shoulder. “But I want you to teach me.” 

“But your dad is _my_ teacher.” 

“I know.” Josie snorted. “But you’re probably better at teaching than he is.” 

“Debatable. I have a zero tolerance patience level.”

“Penelope, please?” Josie pouted and okay, Penelope knows she needs to say something but right now, she can barely form a coherent sentence while looking at the incredibly adorable girl and her dumb puppy dog eyes. 

“I-uhh. Um, yeah sure.” She manages out and she’s suddenly blinded by the brightest smile she’s ever seen.

“Great!" Josie beams. "I would like to start as soon as possible, however, you did mention that you were going to play me a little something...” Josie trails off coyly. 

“Yep.” Penelope shook out of her trance and adjusted the guitar in her lap. “I shall give you what you desire, m'lady."

_No one talks like that, you idiot._

"So um." Penelope clears her throat. "In my spare time, I teach myself how to play all of Shawn Mendes’s songs off of Youtube, and I was going to let you pick which one you wanted me to pla-“ 

“YOU LIKE SHAWN MENDES?!” Josie practically squeals out in the quiet night. 

Penelope jumped in her spot, startled at the other girl’s loud outburst, and she wouldn’t be surprised if the whole neighborhood heard Josie’s squealing. With wide eyes, Penelope halted her ministrations. “Geez girly pops...take a xanax or something.”

Josie looked sheepish and lowered her voice. “Sorry. As you can tell, I am a _huge_ fan.” 

“Really? Never would've guessed.” Penelope dryly quips. “So, any song requests?”

“Hmm. I’ll let you pick the song.” Josie cheekily grinned. 

“Uhh, okay. Well let me think...”

Penelope doesn’t have to think. She already knew which song she wanted to play the night before when she spent most of the night practicing in her bedroom. One way or another, Penelope was going to make sure she was going to play this song for Josie. 

She pretended to give it more thought to humor Josie, but with the way Josie was beaming at her, buzzing in anticipation, she couldn’t help but want to reach out and kiss those full lips. 

But she can’t. Penelope could only pluck her strings and sing the words she has always been afraid of telling. Her songs were the only way she could swim in her deepest dreams and act on her darkest desires. They were her only escape into a world where she can say what she wants to say to Josie. And in this world, Penelope imagines that Josie is hers with every heavy lyric and note that comes out of her mouth.

She starts the first progression of chords of a heart tugging ballad. Peeking a look at Josie, Penelope smiles before she softly begins to sing. 

_Maybe I had too many drinks_

_But that’s just what I needed_

_I hope that you don’t think that what I’m saying sounds conceited_

_When I look across the room_

_And you’re staring right back at me_

_Like somebody told a joke and I’m the only one that’s laughing_

_Don’t know why I try_

_‘Cause ain’t nobody like you_

_Familiar disappointment every single time I do_

_Every single night, my arms are not around you_

_My mind’s still wrapped around you_

Josie sucked in a breath with shining eyes, completely enamored with her performance. And every time Penelope looks at her, all she can see is the girl on the roof two years ago. 

There was a time when Penelope has doubts that she was only in love with her idea of Josie. But since becoming friends with Josie these past months, she has no doubt that the Josie Saltzman she has come to know is better than any version Penelope has conjured of her. 

She can’t help but grin when she sings the chorus. 

_Baby, tell me when you’re ready_

_I’m waitin’_

_Baby, anytime you’re ready_

_I’m waitin’_

_Even ten years from now_

_If you haven’t found_

_Somebody, I promise I’ll be around_

_Tell me when you’re ready_

_I’m waitin’_

_And if I have to, I’ll wait forever_

She will. It may not be now, or tomorrow, or next year, but she will wait for the moment when Josie realizes that Connor will never be the person deserving of her, and when the time comes, Penelope will be there. 

And she wouldn’t ask for Josie’s love. Penelope wouldn’t want to ask anyone to love her, she still has some level of self-respect. She’s going to let Josie follow who her heart wants, and if it’s someone who’s not her, Penelope won’t do a thing to mess it up. 

She’ll just have to wait a little longer. 

_Say the word and I’ll change my plans_

_Yeah you know that we fit together_

_I know your heart like the back of my hand_

_Baby, tell me when you’re ready_

_I’m waitin’_

_Baby, anytime you’re ready_

_I’m waitin’_

_Even ten years from now_

_If you haven’t found_

_Somebody, I promise I’ll be around_

_Tell me when you’re ready_

_I’m waitin’_

_I’m waitin’_

Penelope finishes the last note, letting the final notes hang in the air. She breathes out a shaky laugh. It feels awfully a lot like confessing her feelings and she feels as if a massive weight has been lifted off her chest. 

“Wow.” Josie whispers in awe. “That was incredible, Pen.”

She awkwardly laughs and ducks her head to hide the blush on her cheeks. “Thanks. It, uh, it’s my favorite Shawn Mendes song. It’s so beautifully written and heartbreaking, and I don’t know, it really speaks to me.” 

“Damn, is Penny Slick just a fluffy, hopeless romantic at heart? I really enjoy this musical nerd side of you.” Josie giggles.

Penelope rolls her eyes at the nickname and opens her mouth to give Josie a rebuttal that she does not find it amusing when Josie calls her “cute” and “fluffy”, yet the other girl proves just how whipped she is when Josie leans into her side and rests her head onto her shoulder, and Penelope can't bring herself to say a single word. 

The raven haired girl moves her guitar to the side and shivers at the close contact and Josie’s intoxicating vanilla scent. She lets out a quiet “whatever”.

Penelope does her best to stay completely still, because she never want this to end. But she indulges herself by glancing down at the beautiful girl on her shoulder, and sensing Penelope’s change in movement, Josie lifts her head off Penelope’s shoulder to stare back at her. 

And uh, wow. Josie’s so close and Penelope could lean down just a few inches and kiss her. Whatever amount of self control she has is gradually slipping away, her body on complete autopilot as Penelope slowly leans in. 

Josie’s breath hitches as their noses touch, and Penelope’s silently willing that the other girl doesn’t pull away. 

She wants to so badly to close the distance between them, but the more she hesitates, the louder her inner fears seem to scream at her. 

_What are you doing, Park?_

_You need to STOP._

_She has a boyfriend._

Abruptly, Penelope whipped her head back and looked away with an embarrassed grin. She nervously laughs it off.

Her potentially friendship ruining, disastrous and impulsive, epic screw up.

“Is there another Shawn song you want me to play? I know how to play all the songs on his recent album.”

Josie seems to have shaken from her daze as well, and smiles as if nothing happened. “Can you play ‘Lost in Japan’? I love that song.”

Penelope grinned, although her heart is racing from trying to push all of her kissing related thoughts away. “You got it Jo Jo. ” She readies her guitar. 

With their strange moment long forgotten, Penelope proceeds to sing and strum all of the Shawn Mendes hits that she knows how to play by memory. She doesn’t worry if she’s going to mess up on some of the chord progressions, or if her voice cracks on some notes, because Josie is watching her like she’s the only thing in the universe and that’s all that matters to her. And with every song she plays, the more it feels as though her imaginary world is suddenly real. 

Alaric would’ve been so proud of her. 

* * *

Penelope knows something is wrong when Josie doesn’t climb through her window the next Thursday. 

She’s sitting on the roof that night, shivering in the cold air as she patiently waits for Josie’s window to slide up and reveal the lanky brunette . 

Except, it has been hours and there is still no sign of movement from the other side. 

Penelope contains her growing disappointment by choosing to count the stars, yet it’s difficult to fight the urge to keep sending quick glances to Josie’s roof. 

She decides to go back inside when it becomes too cold. 

The next day at school, Penelope is awfully confused and hurt when Josie appears to be avoiding her as well. For the next two weeks, the head cheerleader barely looks in her direction in the hallways and when Penelope makes an attempt to greet her, the other girl suddenly turns around and walks the other way.

And just like salt to an open wound, Penelope feels her heart begin to crack when she sees Josie practically throwing herself on Connor whenever they’re remotely in the same vicinity together. She knows she has no right to be upset whenever Connor holds her hand or walks Josie to class, but it still pains her nonetheless.

Did she do something wrong? Was it a mistake to bring her guitar with her the other night? 

It doesn’t matter. She still has to swallow the bile in her throat as she walks past the group of jocks hooting at the golden couple making out by the lockers. 

By the time the third week of Josie avoiding her rolls around, Penelope is determined to get answers. Despite facing the task of climbing that daunting tree, she releases a deep breath before ascending up to Josie’s roof. 

She knocks on Josie’s window. 

Is this even a good idea? Technically she’s trespassing and Josie never invited her to...sit on her roof? Oh god, what if Alaric was in Josie’s room?

She has to stop her chaotic deliberation when the window pane slides up. 

“What are you doing on my roof?” Josie’s guarded voice startles her. 

“Can we talk?” 

“What is there to talk about?” Josie stands rigidly a few steps away from the window. Penelope wants to ask her to join her onto the roof, but it’s obvious that the other girl is not going to consider it, and Josie seems agitated at the mere sight of her. 

“Seriously?” Penelope shoots her an incredulous look. “How about the fact that you’ve been ignoring me the past few weeks? Are you mad or something?”

“No. I’ve been busy, that’s all.” 

Scoffing, Penelope is so disconcerted at Josie’s coldness that she wants to scream into the night. She runs a frustrated hand through her hair. “Josie, if I did something wrong, you need to tell me.”

“You didn’t do anything.” Josie’s responds annoyed. 

She can feel her insecurities growing by the minute. With her tendency to hyper analyze every situation, the thought of Penelope’s almost screw up lingers in her mind. 

“Is this about the night I sang to you?”

Josie stiffens at Penelope’s assumption and refuses to look at her. “No.”

With an exasperated sigh, Penelope shifts closer to the window. “If I crossed any boundaries that night, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to make things weird between us. I still want to continue to be friends-”

“Well I don’t.” Josie finally snaps. “We don’t have a ‘thing’ between us anymore. And frankly, the only reason why I even started talking to you was because you were the only one there when Connor and I were going through some problems but we’re fine now. And also-” Josie gives her a cold look before shifting her eyes away from the window. “-it didn’t take much to figure out that you _like_ me in that way.”

Penelope froze, she has a feeling she knows exactly where this is going, as all of her fears, all of her insecurities, all of the times she wished she could be something more are being scrutinized and exposed by the one person who wasn’t supposed to see them.

This is what she gets for trying?

“Look, I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression, and I’m sorry that I don’t feel the same way, but it’s probably best if you stayed away so it doesn’t hurt you more than it already does. I’m happy with Connor and he cares for me. I don’t need to listen to your opinions on him anymore.”

“What?”

“You know, because you’re biased.”

“Wow.” With a bitter laugh, Penelope inched away from the window, her heart completely stomped all over. 

What is the deal with all of the whiplash Josie is giving her? They were literally close to being best friends three weeks ago and now Josie wants nothing to do with her. Damn, she seriously made a huge mistake putting her heart on the line with that song...or maybe she didn’t. Maybe all she could’ve done was to show Josie that there could be someone better for her. 

But if Josie thinks that a pretentious asshole was the one for her, then so be it.

She knows she needs to stop herself from saying anything stupid, but fuck it all. If Josie was going to use her own feelings against her, Penelope is going to give her a piece of her goddamn mind.

She’s so _tired_ of being scared all the time. 

“You caught me.” She spits with a sardonic jeer that even Josie is taken aback by the harshness of her tone. “I’ve obviously been trying to ruin your _perfect_ relationship with your _perfect_ boyfriend who claims to love you but has no problems cheating on you behind your back.” Penelope callously laughs again. “God, what a fucking idiot I sure am, thinking that you deserve better than a two-faced _jackass_ who can’t remember to give you flowers on your anniversary or pay attention to you when he’s around his friends. Or zip it up.” 

Tears are beginning to cloud over Josie’s eyes but Penelope’s too hurt and heartbroken to care or notice. It takes all the strength Penelope has in her heart to not cry along with her. She will not cry. She won’t give Josie the satisfaction of knowing that she still cares because at this point, everything that had happened between them is insignificant now. Josie made sure of that. 

“And I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can’t help that I’ve been stupidly in love with you for the past two years, but not without knowing that you’ll never choose me over Connor. So I’ll stay away Josie, but just don’t expect me to be on my roof the next time you have problems with your boyfriend.”

Not bothering to see Josie’s reaction, she leaps onto the tree and makes her way down (she wouldn’t have minded if she fell, it would’ve been a great distraction to numb all of the pain inside).

Penelope hears Josie’s window close as soon as she touches the ground.

* * *

When Penelope comes over on Wednesday for her lesson, it’s a quiet and awkward affair. 

Alaric immediately noticed the somber state in Penelope at the front door. He knows that something went down between her and his daughter, judging from how Josie barely came out of her room the past few days. 

"Can you play that part again?" He asks her, and he can see through the forced smile she sends her way.

"Yeah." Penelope sounds so dull. Her chord progression is a little lazy today, she's a little unfocused, and she doesn't crack a smile whenever he makes one of his bad jokes. 

Alaric decides that it's better if he doesn’t say anything. He could tell that she’s still hurting and he’s afraid that he’ll make things worse by expressing his disappointment. 

He’s actually disappointed when Penelope never spares a glance at the stairs when she leaves. 

* * *

Sitting up on the roof that Thursday, it was the first time Penelope had allowed herself to cry over the girl next door.

Not because she thought she didn’t have a chance, but because she thought she did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That shit hUrteD. Lemme know what you thought about the long awaited guitar serenade and the aftermath that followed. 
> 
> You can say what you want to say to Josie on twitter (or yell at me instead).
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> -selfishpenelope


	4. You've Got a Smile That Could Light Up This Whole Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of Posie interaction in this chapter! That all happens in the next one! But for now, please enjoy this friendship fluff and Hizzie, because we stan a dumbass Hope and a mature Lizzie Saltzman.

With the fall homecoming two weeks away, Penelope had originally decided to try to avoid anything related to this traditional school function that was stupid. 

And misogynistic. And archaic. 

Well that’s what Penelope had told Hope anyway before her auburn haired best friend confessed that  _ she  _ wanted to ask someone to go to the dance with her. And before Penelope could protest and call her a traitor to all of the feministic ideals they both shared, Hope demanded that Penelope fulfill her best friend duties to help her come up with a homecoming proposal. 

Initially, Penelope whined and griped. _ “Why can’t you get Lizzie to help you, she lives and breathes for dances and overpriced dresses and all of that shit”  _ but then Hope gave her a pointed look and  _ oh.  _

So that’s why Penelope is sprawled across Hope’s bedroom floor after school on a Thursday, assisting Hope with her homecoming proposal because apparently Hope is creatively declined  _ and _ too anxious to make the damn poster herself. But in all honesty, Penelope is just worried that Hope is going to burn herself with the hot glue gun. 

She won’t admit it, but Penelope is completely over the moon for her two best friends. Everytime she makes fun of Hope’s gay anxiety and her constant need of reassurance that Lizzie will say yes, Penelope smirks to herself and thinks about one particular memory last year when Lizzie had drunkenly declared her feelings for Hope on Penelope’s bathroom floor after one of Kaleb’s wild parties. Lizzie forgot about the little mishap, and Penelope didn’t want to do anything when that secret wasn’t meant for her. 

She’s always guessed that they could be more than just friends, but Hope was pretty tight-lipped about her feelings and never gave any indication that she wanted to do something about them until now. 

“You know I’m only doing this to combat the patriarchy, right? Your prescence at homecoming alone is an insult to the gay agenda.”

“Shut up, stop attacking me for following the heterosexual scheme okay.” 

“Mikaelson, I swear to god. You better put down the hot glue gun because the risk of one of us going to the emergency room goes up by ten percent every time you touch that thing.”

Hope rolled her eyes and let out a steadying breath. She started to rapidly pace back and forth, waving the hot glue gun aggressively as she spoke. “Well then hurry the fuck up because I overheard Raf telling Landon that he was going to ask Lizzie to be his date soon and this  _ needs  _ to happen tomorrow and make sure to put some glitter-.”

Penelope hauled herself up to block Hope’s path and cautiously plucked the hot glue gun out of Hope’s hands, setting it onto the desk. “Ma’am, your homo anxiety levels are raging, so maybe you should take some deep breaths and calm down.” 

Hope sighed wearily and stopped moving. “Sorry. I just like her so much and it’s stressing me out because I’m finally exposing my feelings to her.” 

“I get it.”

Hope seemed to be carefully think about of her next words before giving Penelope a sad smile. “Josie’s still ignoring you?”

“Yeah.” Penelope trained her gaze onto the floor. “I have to move on eventually. It’s never going to happen.”

Hope frowned. “I didn’t know that Jo could be that cold. If she reacted that poorly when you revealed your feelings to her, then she doesn’t deserve you at all, Pen. I’m here for you, alright? And I know Lizzie knows something’s up so she’s here for you too.”

A small smile crept onto Penelope’s face. “Thanks, Hope. At least one of us deserves a happily ever after.”

“Don’t say that. You’ll get yours when the time comes.” Hope grinned. “But...we’re working on Lizzie’s right now. So get going on the glitter, Satan.”

Penelope snorted. “You’re not authorized to utilize that nickname. Only your girl gets to call me that.” 

“She’s not my girl yet. She’ll be my girl after my fucking amazing proposal tomorrow.”

“There’s that Mikaelson confidence I was missing.” Penelope winked and picked up a red glitter bottle. 

She’s glad she can put her mind onto something other than her recent heartbreak even though Penelope hated homecoming with a passion (she doesn’t want to admit to herself that she only dreads it because Connor and Josie are going together as the impending homecoming king and queen). 

She can’t recall a time when Hope had ever been so disgustingly whipped for someone, and she smiles knowing that Lizzie will find out soon that her lasting feelings are not unrequited. Maybe Penelope will become slightly annoyed when she solidifies her role as the third wheel, but her best friends will be happy, and that’s all that matters. 

Penelope’s putting the finishing touches on the poster when Hope wraps up her phone call. 

“Yes, I would like twelve.” Hope’s pacing across the room again. “Yes I know twelve is a lot but I have the money.” There’s a pause. “Please have them delivered tomorrow. Thanks.” She hung up. “Okay so we have the roses and the sign’s pretty much done.” 

Hope looms over Penelope, inspecting her work. 

“Do you think there’s too much glitter?”

“No amount of glitter is enough for Lizzie Saltzman, you know this.”

“Are you sure she’s going to like it?”

“Hope, she’s going to love it.”

* * *

Lunch finally rolled around the next day, Penelope and Lizzie were already sitting at their usual table. Penelope was buzzing in her seat, grinning to herself when she’d catch the blonde send subtle glances to the entrance with a small frown. 

For the first time in weeks, Penelope can feel herself in high spirits. She can focus all of her attention on this homecoming proposal and the happiness she’ll feel for her friends when they finally reveal their true feelings for each other. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows this whole ordeal will no doubt end soon, and she’s not ready to go back to having nothing to do but think about  _ her _ and feel the tiny pricks in her heart every time she’s in her room and stares at her guitar case leaning against the wall. 

Her guitar used to be her safest sanctuary, but now it reminds her of all the things that have went wrong. 

Penelope does a better job at blocking out any couple interaction between Josie and Connor at school. It’s a blessing in disguise that the golden couple hasn’t made any appearances during lunch lately. At least Josie gave her this respite. 

“Do you know where Hope is?”

Penelope pretended to act nonchalant and shrugged. “No idea. She probably had to stay back and talk to some teacher.”

_ She’s probably shitting herself right now. _

Lizzie rolled her eyes and stabbed a fork into her salad. “Did she put another rat in Ms. Turner’s classroom? Because she was talking about how funny it would be if she did it again the other day.”

Penelope faced towards her. Hope didn’t tell her that. “What?”

“Yeah. The idiocy. After last time, I’m not waiting for her ass if she gets detention today-”

In that moment, Penelope spotted Raf entering the cafeteria, a large poster board hanging from his hands. She cursed because it seemed like he was starting to head towards their direction. Luckily, he stopped on his journey to briefly talk to Landon. She surreptitiously whipped out her phone, away from Lizzie’s sight. 

Penelope:  _ You need to get here NOW! Raf is here with a poster.  _

Hope:  _ Shit, I was waiting for the roses. Welp, I’m coming.  _

Penelope glanced up from her phone to see Raf still on the other side, nodding to whatever Landon was saying. 

Lizzie sighed and rested her head on an elbow, having stopped her rambling a while ago and had noticed Raf’s sign. “I wonder who he’s going to ask to homecoming.”

Penelope froze as Raf patted Landon on the back before he began to continue his walk towards their table. She cursed next to an oblivious Lizzie, wondering where the hell Hope was right now-

“Hey guys!”

An out of breath Hope popped up from behind them, panting before putting her sign down and hunching over the table to to catch her breath. “Wow, I really need to work on my cardio.”

“Why were you running?” Lizzie turned around with a confused frown. Penelope noticed that her lips suddenly drooped into a faint scowl when Lizzie trailed her eyes towards Hope’s sign. “Also, what’s the sign for?”

Hope panted heavily, raising a finger to signal them to hold on, before she reached for the poster and straightened up. She looked imploringly at the blonde, holding up the glittery red and blue sign:

_ Roses are red,  _

_ Violets are blue, _

_ I want to go to hoco with you _

With her face morphing into shock, Lizzie stared at the sign in silence. At the awkward lack of reaction, Hope nervously chuckled. 

“Lizzie Saltzman, will you go to homecoming with me? I know it’s not much and I’m sorry, uh. There were supposed to be roses but they’re not here and- oh no.”

In confusion, Penelope turned back around and her eyes widened at the sight before her. Several delivery men were marching their way through the cafeteria, and even though it had been a fairly unexpected arrival, everyone in the lunchroom could somehow tell that their table was the obvious destination. Dozens and dozens and  _ dozens  _ of red roses were placed neatly in intricate vases, it was as if a sea of red was swarming its way towards them.

“Delivery for Lizzie Saltzman?”

Lizzie could only gape at the incredible sight and for someone who always had something to say, Penelope’s never heard the blonde so speechless before. 

Hope’s eyes are bulging out of her skull, practically speechless herself and she’s stuttering. “But I-but I only ordered twelve?”

The delivery man nodded, oblivious to the three bumbling girls. “Yes. Twelve  _ dozen _ .”

Hope’s lips curved into an  _ oh  _ and Penelope tempted to slap her but settled for a facepalm. 

Leave it to Hope Mikaelson to buy out an entire store of roses. 

“Huh. So that’s why they were so damn expensive.” 

The delivery man held out a pen to Hope, and the slightly dazed girl took it from his hand and silently signed the order form. Penelope snickered because she  _ knows  _ Hope is in for an interesting conversation with her mom when she gets home from school. One that will probably result in her idiotic friend getting her fancy credit card revoked. 

They haven’t heard a peep from Lizzie yet, and as the group of delivery men retreated, Hope and Penelope turned to their blonde friend in anxious anticipation. 

Still processing what just happened, Lizzie’s clear blue eyes traced over each red batch and each white vase. She finally found the words to say. 

“You accidentally bought one hundred and forty-four roses for me?”

The auburn haired girl weakly laughed. “Who says it was an accident?”

Penelope fondly rolled her eyes at her friend’s nervousness. Hope anxiously cleared her throat and continued. 

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t want to screw this up, I swear, and I know this proposal has been a huge mess so I’m going to simplify it for you.” Hope bit her bottom lip before a shy smile graced her face, as she shuffled her feet. “I’m just a girl, standing in front of another girl, with a whole freaking army of red roses, asking her if she’ll go to homecoming with me so we can say a big ‘fuck you’ to heteronormality.”

Lizzie turned around and her eyes finally connected with Hope’s, and she slowly rose up from her spot. Her lips curved upwards into a blinding grin. “Hope Mikaelson, I would love to go to homecoming with you.”

Hope’s face lit up. “You wil-mph!”

Slender arms had reached out and Hope squeaked as Lizzie tugged her face in for a searing kiss. Penelope couldn’t help the wide grin on her face as her friends finally found their way towards each other after years of longing. The scene didn’t go unnoticed by the students around them and shortly, the cafeteria was filled with cheers and loud whoops and whistles. 

Hope’s stupid (and unplanned for) stunt fucking worked. 

Lizzie’s always been a “the more, the better” type of girl anyway. 

* * *

Hope and Lizzie’s honeymoon phase lasted a week. Penelope barely saw both of her friends with the exception of school, and she wanted to respectfully give them time for themselves before she’d complain about being the third wheel.

It was the Saturday the week before homecoming weekend when Penelope got a text from Lizzie telling her to come outside. 

In confusion, Penelope opened the front door to see Lizzie’s car parked by her mailbox. As she walked over to the car, the driver’s window rolled on, revealing a grinning Lizzie. 

“Get in loser. We’re going shopping.”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “I bet you’ve been just  _ waiting  _ to use that line.”

“Duh.” Lizzie scoffed. “I wasn’t going to waste such a golden opportunity. Now get in, we’re going dress shopping.”

Penelope huffed. “I already told you I wasn’t going to homecoming.”

“Well now you are. Let’s go.”

“There’s no point in me going.”

Lizzie gasped in mock offense. “Um hello? Have you forgotten about your two fantastic best friends? I’m a little hurt that you said that but I’ll let that slide this time. You’ve been moping around lately and as the good friend I am, I’m trying to cheer you up. Now get your sorry ass into the car.”

“This  _ sorry ass _ helped Hope plan your homecoming proposal.” Penelope retorted but nonetheless opened the car door and plopped down into the passenger’s seat.

“And as a thank you, I’ll buy your homecoming dress. Fair?”

“I don’t know if that’s fair, considering you’re making me go.”

Lizzie’s eyes softened. “Hey. Even though Hope and I are going as dates, we still want you there. We’re not leaving you behind.” She switched the gear into drive without waiting for another protest from the raven haired girl. “You’re stuck with me. Now, you could either come willingly or you could scream ‘bloody murder’ at the top of your lungs right now and explain to the police why your next door neighbor is kidnapping you and taking you to the outlet mall.” 

A hint of a fond smile crept onto Penelope’s lips as sat back in her seat, relenting to the blonde. As the blonde began to drive, she started rambling about all of her ideas for their homecoming dresses. 

“Now, I’m thinking about something lighter for me and darker for you.”

“What about Hope?”

“She’s shopping for her dress tomorrow. I have prepared her a thorough list of twenty two possible color options with specific details, styles, and lengths. Having gone through just about every kind of material, I’ve determined that metallic fabric is the way to go, although dazzling sequins wouldn’t be too bad, it just depends on the color. But poofy dresses are a huge _no_ _no_. Especially in lighter colors. She’d might as well show up to homecoming as the pink Big Bird. Once I make my selection today, I will help Hope choose what type of dress would best match with mine that will be most pleasing to the eye.”

Penelope sighed at her friend’s dramatics.“Why isn’t she coming with us? Wouldn’t it be easier for her if she just knew what your dress looked like?”

Lizzie vehemently shook her head. “Nuh uh, we don’t want to see each other’s dresses till homecoming night. The first time that I see her in her dress, I want it to be an absolutely breathtaking moment for the both of us.”   
  


“You know this is homecoming right, not your freaking wedding. Although, I shouldn’t be surprised, considering the Uhauling thing. I’m guessing you’re looking into houses with Hope next week and the house must be painted eggshell. Oh, and the white picket fence is a deal breaker.”

“Shut up, and ew no. Eggshell is gross. If anything, it’d be more subtle, like a French Gray.”

Penelope looked at her in mock disbelief. “I can’t believe you. Hope isn’t going to have any control of the wedding, the house, or the kids.”

Lizzie shrugged. “I’m pretty high maintenance, you know this.” 

They spared a look at each other and suddenly erupted into a fit of giggles. Once the two girls sobered up, a comforting silence overtook the car. 

Lizzie glanced at her with an unreadable expression before she hesitantly spoke up. 

“I know things have been...weird between you and my sister. Contrary to popular belief, I  _ can _ pay attention to the people around me.”

Penelope tensed at the sudden shift in the conversation. She hadn’t brought anything up with Lizzie before. How could she? Penelope was the one who messed everything up and she didn’t want Lizzie to be stuck in between her sister and her best friend. 

Despite Hope being her closest confidant, Penelope thinks that Lizzie actually gives better advice than the former. She’s told Lizzie everything before, and Penelope feels so guilty everytime she wants to bring Josie up but can’t. And with the sudden change between her and Josie, Penelope has been timid to give Lizzie any explanation at all. 

Lizzie’s been surprisingly patient with her, however, she can tell that Lizzie is becoming more and more restless about the lack of knowledge and it was only a matter of time before the blonde Saltzman brought it up. 

“I wish I knew what happened that caused this rift between you two because you’re obviously upset about it. And Josie’s upset too.” Penelope glanced at her skeptically and Lizzie nodded in confirmation, keeping her eyes on the road. “She cares, Penelope. Josie seems fine at school but she acts mopey at home. The same kind of mopey you’ve been acting. I tried talking to her a few days ago and she lashed out at me.”

“I’m sorry, Liz.” Penelope genuinely felt guilty that Lizzie’s involved. “I didn’t want you to get in the middle of this.”

There was an awkward few seconds of silence as Lizzie turned into the mall parking lot and parked the car into one of the spaces. Once the blonde turned off the engine, she turned and made eye contact with Penelope. 

“I’m sorry about my bitchiness towards you and Josie when you guys first started hanging out together. I was upset because I felt like I was being replaced.” Penelope was about to interupt her to contradict her statement but Lizzie continued. “But Hope made me realize that I should’ve been happy that you and Josie became friends. And lo and behold, right when I accept that you and Josie are friends, suddenly you guys are not.” 

“I-”

“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to Pen.” Lizze assured her gently. “It’s not my place to help you and Josie resolve this problem. I just hope that you and Josie could be friends again.”

“Thanks, Liz.” Penelope softly smiled at her, although she feels incredibly guilty that Lizzie doesn’t know the full truth. Lizzie thinks Penelope is bummed about her  _ friendship _ with Josie, and Penelope doesn’t want to complicate things more telling Lizzie about her unrequited feelings for Josie. She doesn’t want Lizzie to cement herself in the middle of both of them even further if the blonde gets mad at Josie for the real reason she started acting cold towards her, or if Lizzie gets mad at her for being in love with her sister. 

Or both. 

Penelope let out an exaggerated sigh. “Let’s go dress shopping.”

Lizzie clapped excitedly and Penelope has to hold back a laugh. 

“Get ready, Penelope Park, because unfortunately for you, we are going to be here for a while.”

“Can I pick my own dress?”

“Of course.”

“Great! Poofy pink it is then.”

Penelope laughs when Lizzie shoves her out of the car. 

* * *

“Oooh, what about this one?”

“Absolutely  _ not _ , Liz.”

“Oh come on, Pen, it’s gorgeous! And the cut right there will perfectly show off your-”

“ _ No. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give me your thoughts on this friendship trio and Hizzie! Talk to me on twitter or cc. 
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> -selfishpenelope


	5. What You're Looking For Has Been Here The Whole Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The long-awaited last chapter! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but when I started school again, I had such a hard time balancing everything in my life that I just couldn't make time to write. But anyway, I'm back! Happy reading!- selfishpenelope

She doesn’t know how long she’s been staring at Josie’s window. 

Honestly, Penelope still doesn’t even know why she’s been coming to the roof after the fallout. When she had the last word with Josie, all emotional ties that she made with her should’ve been cut. That’s what Josie did anyway. 

But here she was, sitting on her roof at one o’clock in the morning, thinking about the girl that she shouldn’t be thinking about. The stars are glad that they don’t have to share her attention anymore, but it’s not the same. It’s not as bright anymore when they don’t have Josie’s hair to glow or her eyes to sparkle. Instead, the light casts a shadow over her, or maybe the shadow was always there, but she never noticed it because the light belonged to someone else. 

Josie’s gone now, and she’s made it painfully clear she’s sticking to her choice. Tomorrow, her and her boyfriend are going to have their perfect night at homecoming. All the girls will eye Josie with envy and admiration, all of the boys will look at Connor with pride. Let’s face it, Penelope was never meant to be in their story, she’s just the forgotten character. 

Penelope doesn’t regret singing that song to Josie. It let her know the type of person Josie truly was. Josie’s made her choice, and now Penelope has a choice to make too. 

She needs to stop. She has to get over Josie. 

She has to get rid of that grip Josie still has on her heart.

Turning away from the Saltzman house, Penelope crawls into her room and closes the window. 

* * *

“Are you excited for the dance tonight?”

Penelope glances up at Alaric before locking her precious guitar safely into its case and standing up. “Yeah, I guess.”

Alaric leans back onto his desk and tilts his head. “You don’t sound too sure.”

“Dances aren’t really my thing, you know this Mr. A. Lousy, noisy teenage functions are menaces to society.” Penelope places her case on the ground. 

“Yet, you’re still going.” Alaric smirks. “It’s all Lizzie’s been talking about lately. She certainly had no trouble using her credit card the last time you two went to the mall.” He shoots her a knowing look. 

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Penelope winces, remembering how Lizzie fulfilled her promise and bought her a dress. A pricey one too. “I offered to pay her back, but she wouldn’t take the money.”

“Generous. When she’s spending other people’s money.” Alaric chortles. That definitely sounded like his daughter. “Anyway, I don’t mind Penelope. You deserve to go out and have fun.” His expression softens. “You seem like you need it nowadays.”

For someone who tries to stay out of his daughters’ personal affairs, Alaric isn’t oblivious to their drama. Penelope knows that he had noticed how she and Josie used to greet each other with soft smiles whenever she came over for a lesson, how they used to whisper and giggle with each other like they were in their own little world whenever Penelope (and Josie, suspiciously more often) would stay for dinner. And how Penelope would confidently bid goodnight to both Saltzman twins instead of just one. 

He definitely knows something went down between his daughter and her, but Penelope appreciates how he consciously avoids the topic of Josie so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. He’s somewhat become a father to her as well, with the way he cares about her well-being and her feelings just as he does with his daughters. 

Deciding to bypass the hidden meaning behind his words, Penelope gives him a wry grin. “Damn, taking tips from you on how to have fun? I must’ve reached a new low.”

Before Alaric could playfully swat at her head, a knock interrupts their moment. 

“Hey Dad, I’m going to Alyssa’s house to get ready for the dance.” She stiffens at Josie’s sudden presence in the room. “I was wondering if I could borrow your car?”

“Sure kiddo. Drive safely, okay?”

Penelope attempts to act unaffected by the girl, playing with the handle of her guitar case. She watches as Alaric turns to grab his keys from his desk before training her eyes onto the floor. 

“Okay. Bye, Dad.”

Thinking Josie had already turned back, Penelope chooses this moment to look up, only to find herself locking eyes with Josie. 

They both freeze. There was something in the way that Josie was looking at her that she couldn’t identify, but it only lasted a fleeting second before Josie maneuvers around Penelope and out of the room. 

“Go have fun Penelope.” Alaric breaks her out of her trance as he shuffles his music sheets on his desk, seemingly unaware of the weird exchange. He turns to her and gives her what Penelope thinks is a look of understanding. “And don’t let _anyone_ ruin your night.”

Penelope knows what he means, _who_ he means, so she just nods, picks up her case, and starts heading towards Lizzie’s room. 

“Thanks Alaric.”

“Anytime kiddo.”

* * *

“Ow!”

“Stop being a big baby, Penny. I’m _trying_ to help you look like perfection.”

Penelope glares at Lizzie, who was looking back at her with disapproval, tweezer in hand. “Is it really necessary to pluck every inch of my eyebrows?! At this point, you’re going to have to draw them on.”

Lizzie rolls her eyes. “And you call me the dramatic one. Just shut up and hold still for five more minutes.” 

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Penelope pouts at Lizzie, who’s grip on her chin was getting a little too tight for comfort as she was lifting Penelope’s face. Lizzie is too concentrated on her eyebrows to notice. “I appreciate all of the effort, but you haven’t even started getting ready yourself.”

“Well look who’s fault is that.” Lizzie drawls and she plucks a tiny hair without blinking. She releases her hold on Penelope’s face. “Look, since I’m forcing you to come to homecoming, the least I can do is help you look hot so then everyone can drool all over you and you can find someone to date so you can stop being so mopey all time.” 

“Gee thanks. You are so thoughtful Lizzie.” Penelope deadpans. 

“See, this is exactly why I'm helping you.” Lizzie says pointing an accusatory finger at her. She grabs the curling iron off the vanity table and her expression turns serious. “You haven’t been yourself after you stopped talking to my sister, and she hasn’t mentioned a word about you. You both refuse to talk about it, but if I have to guess, she probably disappointed you.” 

More like she broke Penelope’s heart. But she doesn’t say anything to Lizzie as she amusedly watches Lizzie defending her honor and ranting on about what a mistake Josie made by hurting her. 

“I love my sister, but Josie’s been really playing up the part of Miss Popular as of late and now it’s getting obnoxious. So tonight is the night that we give her a wake up call. She’s going to realize what she’s been missing when you show up to the dance looking like the baddest bitch in town. So please…”

Lizzie leans down so that she’s face to face with Penelope and shamelessly pouts at her. “ _Please_ let me help you look pretty.”

Penelope smirks. “Are you sure you’re in love with Hope and not me?”

Standing up, Lizzie sighs and shakes her head, reaching for Penelope’s hair. “What am I gonna do with you, Park?” 

* * *

“Whoa.” Penelope whispers while taking in her reflection in the mirror. She attempts to step forward but she stumbles in her heels and grabs onto the nearest thing in Lizzie’s closet for support. 

After they both finished with their hair and makeup, Penelope went into Lizzie’s closet to change while the blonde did the same in the bedroom. Penelope had a little trouble with the back zipper at first, but thanks to her long and nimble fingers, she managed to zip it up. 

While admiring herself in the mirror, Penelope has to admit: Lizzie made do on her promise. 

She was fitted in a black, sequin gown with a keyhole halter neckline. Normally, Penelope would’ve been uncomfortable with the amount of skin being displayed, but she has to admit, the low back enhanced her appearance nicely. The high front slit in her skirt added a sexy effect to her overall image.

Examining closer, she loved the simplicity of her hair- her dark brown tresses flowed into loose curls. And finally, thanks to Lizzie, the classic, smokey eye makeup greatly accentuated her features, giving her a rather seductive look that completed the whole ensemble. 

A knock snaps her out of her reverie. “Hey are you done?” Penelope heard Lizzie’s muffled voice through the door. 

“Yeah give me a sec!” She ran her hands through her wavy locks, smirking at her reflection one last time before she swung the closet door open for the grand dress reveal.

Her eyes immediately land on Lizzie, clad in a navy blue lace V-neck bodice. The blonde’s long hair was put in a double wrap around braid with voluminous curls. She looked like the perfect mixture of elegance and glamour. 

“Nope!”

“No.”

“Not acceptable.”

“This is not okay.”

“Ma’am. Who allowed you to be this beautiful?!”

“Who allowed _you_ to be this beautiful?!”

“How are you so _hot_?”

“Are you kidding?” Penelope leers at Lizzie. “Hope is going to _eat. you. up. tonight_.”

“Watch out ladies and gentlemen! Penelope Park has just set the new record for being sexy as _fuck_ and she’s going to take your bitch!”

“The rest of the bitches are going to line up for you, ma’am. Hope’s going to have some competition!”

They giggle at each other’s shenanigans before Lizzie steps up and proudly smiles at her. 

“Seriously though. You look hot as hell. I better be getting a phone call tomorrow morning asking me to come pick you up at some rando’s house.” Lizzie says slyly. 

Penelope rolls her eyes goodnaturedly. “As if I would call you. At least Hope wouldn’t judge me for my walk of shame outfit.”

Lizzie snorts in laughter while reaching for her phone on the bed. As she’s scrolling through her phone, her face shifts into annoyance. “Damn. They chose the worst day to host the dance.” She shows Penelope her screen. “It’s supposed to rain.”

Penelope inspects it. “Well, it looks like the storm won’t be coming in till way later so maybe we’ll miss it.”

“Maybe.” Lizzie grumbles. 

“Hope’s here!” Alaric’s voice called from downstairs. 

“We’ll be there in a second!” Lizzie calls back before she stands straight up, fixing her hair. 

“Remember. This is supposed to be one of the best nights of our lives.” Lizzie moves a strand of hair out of Penelope’s face. “Trust me, people will be drooling all over you. And if you don’t think so, here’s me reminding you of the basic facts: You’re sexy. You’re hot. You’re one bad bitch, Penelope Park, don’t you forget it.”

Penelope laughs before giving her a grateful smile. “Thanks Liz.”

Lizzie waves her off. “It’s my duty to be your hype man. Now let’s go see my date!” She gleefully grins and leads the way out of her room. 

As they carefully step down the stairs, Hope stands pristinely at the bottom, wearing a gorgeous, red off the shoulder dress with straps, holding a red rose. She’s making conversation with Alaric, messing with the end of her high ponytail, when she suddenly notices Lizzie and her arms fall to her sides in awe. 

The two of them can’t seem to take their eyes off each other. Lizzie takes the rose from Hope and holds it delicately to her chest. 

“You are stunning, Hope Mikaelson.” 

Hope blushes and Penelope’s definitely going to tease her for this later. The auburn haired girl is having some trouble keeping her cool composure. “Yeah well, you uh, you look- I can’t-just wow.”

Lizzie just laughs and steps into Hope’s space. Penelope awkwardly stands there, letting them have their moment together. Alaric leans closer to her. 

“I think they broke each other.” 

“Agreed. We’re going to be late to the dance at this rate.” Penelope snickers before she makes an obnoxious scene of gagging at the sickly sweetness in front of her. An annoyed Hope shoots her a dirty look. 

“As much as I enjoy you two practically banging each other with your eyes, can we please leave now?”

Hope rolls her eyes, unaware of Lizzie’s subtle smirk, but before she could leave their private bubble, Lizzie suddenly grabs Hope’s face and slams their lips together. 

Penelope groans, fully aware of what Lizzie is doing. Lizzie is still smirking as she kisses (or rather smothers) Hope. 

Chuckling at the ridiculousness of the situation, Alaric clears his throat and the girls finally part. 

“Alright. You better leave before I have to take you two to the backyard and hose y’all off.”

Lizzie grins, taking her girlfriend’s hand and spinning towards the front door. “Bye Daddy!” She pulls a stumbling Hope with her. 

Penelope pats Alaric’s shoulder before following them out the door. “I’ll make sure they don’t...scar everyone at the dance.”

* * *

“Thanks for the ride, Freya!” Hope calls after her aunt’s car before the three of them start walking to the school’s back entrance, leading to the gym.

Walking side by side, the three of them follow the general direction of the other students that were filing into the school. 

Penelope hasn’t been to a school dance since middle school, and that was one of the most boring experiences in her life. Then again, she wasn’t lucky enough to have friends like Lizzie and Hope back in Malibu, so maybe this experience will be different. 

The lively atmosphere hits Penelope when they step through the red and black balloon arch and into the gym. Silver and gold streamers hang from the ceiling. Music blared through the speakers. Most people congregated in front of the stage at the opposite end of the gym- the designated dance floor. 

She tells Lizzie and Hope to go line up for pictures, and when they go off, Penelope waits for them by walking around the room. 

As Penelope makes her way through the sea of suits and gowns, she could feel the stares of people around her. She hears the whispers as she passes. 

_“Is that Penelope Park?”_

_“Do you know where she got her dress? It’s super cute.”_

_“Whoa. Park got hot.”_

She’s never liked having the spotlight on her, but this feels different. The power that she commands in this room is intoxicating, it’s exciting her more than she’d admit. 

Penelope usually never dwelled on her looks, it just never really mattered to her, but with the way her classmates are ogling her, she can kind of get used to this. 

Penelope’s enjoying the attention she’s receiving, until she turns around and she stops in her tracks.

And sees her. 

Standing merely ten feet away from her was Josie Saltzman. Her hair was in an intricate updo, her brown mane was tousled back with a fishtail braid, creating a flawlessly loose chignon. She was wearing a long, strapless fishbone tulle dress, the color of lavender. 

Josie’s favorite color. 

She looked downright breathtaking, a real-life disney princess standing before Penelope’s eyes. And in that moment, Penelope understands the true meaning of love at first sight: looking at a person and feeling time slow down. Seeing someone so beautiful that it _hurts._

Josie is laughing at what one of the other cheerleaders said when she turns and catches Penelope’s stare. 

There’s a spark of electricity that crackles between them when they see each other. Josie is taking in Penelope’s appearance with slightly gaping but there’s something about the look in her eyes that seems...darker. 

Penelope knows that all of these emotions shouldn’t be coming back to her again, but seeing Josie like this makes her forget all of the pain that the other girl caused. 

And then Josie’s head snaps back to her friends and their conversation, leaving Penelope the only one left in their stare down. 

“Penelope come on.” Hope suddenly appears at her side, putting a protective hand on her shoulder. She sends a wary glance in Josie’s direction. “Just forget about her.”

Penelope gives her a reassuring smile, one that says ‘I’m fine’ and lets her guide her to the dance floor. However she couldn’t ignore the way her stomach twists at Hope’s words.

Maybe there’s a part of her that doesn’t want to forget. 

* * *

Surprisingly, Penelope finds it easy to dance the night away with her two best friends, they go back to their usual antics and banter between the three of them. Besides the dancing, she dutifully plays the role of the third wheel, like when she had to stop Lizzie from screaming at a kid for almost spilling his drink on Hope, or when she teases Hope for stepping all over Lizzie’s toes. Despite being the most nauseating couple on the planet, they do make an effort to keep Penelope included.

She’s grateful for her friends, but sometimes, she feels that Hope and Lizzie deserve some time alone to create memories for themselves. Whenever they start to get lost into each other, Penelope wanders off to give them some privacy. 

The first time she wanders off, Penelope finds MG in the middle of a circle showing off his talents and hypes him up. They have an easy conversation between them afterwards, and he even invites her to his party after the dance. She tells him that she’ll think about it before going back to her friends. 

For her second time, she leaves Hope and Lizzie during a slow song, not expecting to be dancing with someone else. Penelope comes face to face with a frenzied Landon, who was trying to avoid Connor’s friends’ constant harassment. She lets out a sigh, taking pity on the poor boy before tugging Landon to the dance floor. He’s a little confused but mostly grateful for her as he stiffly sways along with her. 

When the song ends, Penelope leads him to Rafael, who has finally arrived at the dance, before she meets up with her friends again. She’s kind of relieved that they hadn’t noticed where she had gone or she’d have to endure Hope’s teasing or Lizzie’s merciless interrogation. 

They dance through probably five more songs when Penelope decides to get something to drink. Pouring punch (thankfully not spiked) into her cup, she proceeds to take a sip before she feels a tap on her shoulder. 

“Hey..Penelope.”

Penelope rotates around and smiles. “Hey Jed. You look really nice tonight.”

They had a few classes together and even exchanged phone numbers for a small project in English, but they usually never talked outside of class. 

Jed grins and (un)subtly checks her out. “You do too. Could you grab me a cup?”

“Oh! Sorry.” She notices how she’s blocking the bowl of punch and steps aside, handing him a cup. Jed pours some punch for himself and sips on his cup before turning to her. 

“I know we haven’t spoken in a while, but I still think you’re pretty cool.” She could feel him shifting closer to her. “Emphasis on the pretty.” He winks at her. 

Penelope snorts at his terrible attempt at flirting. “Aww, I’m flattered. Really.”

“Yeah, and...” He leans over to her, attempting to look somewhat endearing. “I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime? Maybe next week?”

Despite being one of Connor’s better friends, Penelope hasn’t forgotten the incident last year when he beat up Landon behind the school (she’s developed a somewhat feeling of protectiveness over the kid). Besides that fact, Penelope’s still confused about one other thing.

“Aren’t you dating Alyssa Chang?”

“Ah.” Jed rubs a hand on the back of his neck. “Yeah, we broke up.”

“So what, you’re looking for another dark haired beauty to rebound with?”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Park.” Jed grins before he unexpectedly becomes somber and mutters to himself. “God I’m such an idiot. If I never took those mystery pills from Kaleb, I wouldn’t have gotten drunk and slept with Dana.”

“Um.” Choosing not to comment on his last statement, she instead decides to file that piece of information into her brain so she could tell Lizzie later. She moves away from him. “Sorry to disappoint you there, bud, but I’m going to decline.” Penelope clinks their cups together awkwardly and takes a sip. 

“I miss her so much.” Jed stares blankly at the floor. 

“O-kay. I’m just going to-” He’s not even paying attention to her anymore. “...yeah.” She finishes her cup and tosses it into the trash can. Penelope pats his shoulder and leaves the refreshments table, not before catching a certain brunette’s eye. 

She sees Josie sporting an unhappy pout at her but upon eye contact, Josie quickly looks away and says something to Connor. 

Penelope doesn’t even want to figure out what _that_ was about so she walks away in search of a tall blonde and a short, auburn haired girl. 

Ten minutes later, Penelope has no such luck in relocating her friends and genuinely starts to wonder if they had ditched her and gone someplace else. She doesn’t think that they’d do that to her but her worries grow with every minute that passes by without finding them. 

As she’s wandering aimlessly around the gym, some people are complimenting her dress or her hair and she’s gotten a couple catcalls, however she barely pays them any attention. Being alone makes her self conscious about looking desperate and pathetic, and she curses as she ends up in the middle of the dance floor, alone. 

She’s looking around helplessly at the sea of people, and it’s starting to feel claustrophobic when she turns around and stops. 

There’s Josie, in all of the beautiful glory she is, standing before her. 

“Penelope.”

She swallows, trying her best to root herself to the ground so she doesn’t run in the opposite direction. 

“Josie.”

“I um...” Josie steps closer and Penelope’s breath hitches because they’re within an arm’s length now and she doesn’t know what to do. 

“Dance with me?”

Penelope getting whiplash from all of this- she doesn’t understand where this is coming from after being ignored by Josie for so long. She had half a mind to just leave Josie there, but Josie’s looking at her almost pleadingly with those big brown eyes of hers and her mouth slightly upturned in a sort of hopeful way that makes Penelope miss the times when Josie used to smile at her. 

Penelope can’t control herself as she steps closer to Josie, but doesn’t move a muscle and instead stares back at Josie with an intensity that portrays her hidden pain. 

“Why?”

Josie’s features morph into an expression of guilt. “Penelope please.”

Against her better judgement, Penelope wordlessly steps into Josie’s personal space. Her heartbeat abnormally speeds up in fear that Josie does as much as flinch. But Josie tentatively puts her arms across her shoulders and Penelope stops herself from freezing at the contact by concentrating her hands at Josie’s waist. Suddenly, they mold together so naturally that Penelope instinctively relaxes and they begin to sway to the music. 

She clocks in the slow, romantic song playing in the background and begins to feel a weird range of emotions, torn between a sense of discomfort and feeling right where she belongs. Internally, she’s making a nervous effort to be careful where she steps so she doesn’t trip on their dresses. 

They sway with all of the other couples on the dance floor, which suddenly reminds Penelope that she and Josie are _not_ a couple. 

“Where’s Connor?”

“Oh.” Josie lets out a tense little laugh. “He’s probably, like, getting high with his friends behind the school.”

Penelope can feel the agitation burning inside her, because that sounds _exactly_ like Connor, someone who would leave his freaking girlfriend all alone at the dance while he smokes his stupid weed outside. 

She will never understand Josie’s relationship with Connor, never understand Josie’s twisted way of loving(?) him. But as frustrating as this is for her, this was Josie’s choice, she chose Connor and Penelope can’t do anything about it. She really doesn’t have the strength to fight with Josie again so lets out a quiet “ah” and doesn’t say anything else. 

They silently dance together, because Penelope doesn’t exactly know what to say to Josie and anything that she can think of would just make things awkward. The only other question she has is _why_. 

As she’s looking at the girl in her arms, Penelope could see Josie struggling to build up the courage to say something too, the conflict clearly painted on her immaculate face. 

Before Penelope could ask if Josie’s alright, Josie’s low, apologetic voice beats her to it. 

“I’m sorry for the way I acted on the roof that night. I’m sorry for ignoring you. I’m sorry for being such a bitch to you.” Josie looks directly in her eyes, showing guilt, showing _everything_ Penelope had wanted to see these past weeks. 

“The truth is, I freaked out after you sang that song, when I realized the kind of feelings you had for me. I didn’t know how to handle it at first, in fact, I’ve never had anyone care for me as much as you. It just felt a little...weird, especially with Connor.”

Right. How could Penelope forget her boyfriend. 

“I want you to know that you did absolutely _nothing_ wrong Penelope. The way I feel about you now hasn’t changed. Everything that happened is on me and I take responsibility for all the hurt that I’ve caused you.” Josie stops them from swaying so she can just focus on Penelope. “Becoming friends with you has been amazing in ways I never expected. You’re different from all of my other friends. You’re so genuine, so.. I don’t know, quirky-”

“Quirky?” Penelope says with a raised eyebrow, keeping her lips at bay so the corner of her mouth doesn’t break into a small grin. 

Josie huffs like a cute puppy dog when it doesn’t get its way. “You know what I mean. You understand me and you _care_ about understanding me.” Penelope hates the way a glimmer of hope rises in her chest. “The point is, you’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met Penelope, and I’m sorry that I pushed you away. I don’t expect you to forgive me right away, but I really want things to go back to the way they used to. So I’m sorry.”

Penelope regards Josie for a few seconds, secretly liking the way she’s making Josie squirm under her stare. She lets out an exaggerated sigh.“Well, I guess I’ll _have_ to accept your apology after a speech like that.You talk too much, Jo Jo.” 

Josie giggles for a little bit before smiling. “I really miss you, Pen. And I’d really like to be friends again.” 

Friends. Of course. 

She didn’t know what she was supposed to expect, but she supposes that makes sense. If Josie wants to be friends, then Penelope needs to be a friend to her and move past her feelings. It’s not her place to judge Josie’s relationship with Connor anymore, no matter how much it kills her. But it killed her even more when she lost what she had with Josie in the first place, and Penelope’s not going to make the same mistake of jeopardizing their friendship ever again. 

Josie doesn’t have feelings for her. It’s time for her to accept it. 

Penelope gives her a strained smile, hoping that Josie doesn’t see through it. “Me too.”

Josie lights up with a grin, the tension leaving her body as if all of her troubles have magically disappeared. She pulls Penelope even closer and Penelope relishes the feeling by gripping Josie’s waist a little tighter. 

Words can’t describe how good it feels being with Josie again. Josie rests her head on Penelope’s shoulder as they sway to the music again, and Penelope closes her eyes, breathing in Josie’s flowery perfume. She prays that the song never ends, prays that the moment could last forever. 

As the song nears its end, Penelope gently pulls apart from Josie, intent on telling the girl something along the lines of _‘I’m glad we’re friends again’_ but she can’t seem to get the words out of her mouth Josie holds her gaze. 

The gym, the music, the people- all of it seems to blur around them as they simply stare at each other. Penelope feels it again, that invisible electricity that crackles between them. 

“Josie-”

“Hello Timberwolves! How are we feeling tonight?!!”

The two of them spring apart as the students around them begin cheering. At the front of the room, a spotlight shines on Principal Vardemus as he addresses the student body. Penelope and Josie exchange a glance before giving him their attention. 

“I’m glad everyone is enjoying themselves tonight. Unfortunately, our night is coming to a close...” Two teachers walk on the stage, both of them holding petite pillows. Sitting neatly on top of the pillows are one crown and one tiara. 

“But that means it’s time to announce King and Queen of the homecoming court!”

Around them, the students cheer and clap loudly while Vardemus fumbles with the envelopes containing the names of the winners. 

Last week, the student body held a vote for the honor of King and Queen, and Penelope remembers when she submitted Hope and Lizzie’s names as a joke to the student council. Hope had been mortified but Lizzie mockingly made a show of thanking Penelope graciously by bowing down and kissing her hand dramatically in the middle of class. 

However, it was hardly a vote when Penelope already knew who would win. 

Mystic Falls High’s golden couple. The starting quarterback and the head cheerleader. Connor and Josie. They were at the top of the school’s pecking order, the definition of royalty at this school, so there was no doubt in her mind that she was going to be watching them together on this very stage. 

Penelope was starting to feel a little nauseous as Vardemus opened the first envelope.

“The gentleman who will be crowned your homecoming king is...Connor O’Neil!”

From the opposite side of the room, the football players whoop and scream in delight, many of them slapping Connor on the back as he squeezes his way through the crowd and up on the stage, where he receives his crown with a smug smile. He turns to his friends and whoops, pointing at them and laughing as he attempts to rile them up. 

Penelope notices how Josie claps for her boyfriend politely along with everyone else and subtly rolls her eyes at her boyfriend’s antics on stage. 

Principal Vardemus makes some hand gestures to quiet down the applause, and once Connor is finished showing off, Vardemus opens the second envelope. 

“And lastly, but certainly not least..” Josie gives Penelope a conflicted glance and squeezes her hand. 

“Your homecoming queen is...Josie Saltzman!”

Josie mouths a quick _‘I’m sorry’_ before plastering a radiant smile on her face and starting her journey to the stage. Because she is the high school’s biggest sweetheart, the room erupts into applause, with some of the cheerleaders reaching out to touch Josie in congratulations while she treks through the crowd. 

Penelope watches as Josie arrives on the stage, mirroring the crowd with heartfelt claps. 

Josie shines underneath the spotlight, beaming at the crowd as Principal Vardemus places the tiara on her head. Her eyes find Penelope in the crowd and her smile widens at the sight of Penelope’s encouraging grin. 

And again, another moment between them comes to an end when Connor stands beside Josie and they bow in front of the crowd, before meeting each other for a picturesque kiss. 

Penelope knows she shouldn’t be hurt by it, but it does. 

Her grin dims, her claps slow down, as she watches Josie’s fairytale moment come true. 

* * *

Since the dance was practically over, Josie and Connor left shortly after the homecoming crowning ceremony with their group of friends, probably to continue their night of fun at someone’s party. 

Fortunately, Lizzie and Hope find her in the middle of the dance floor, apparently having been looking for her all this time as well. They tried looking for her at the refreshments table where they had encountered a sobbing Jed going on about Alyssa Chang whilst being comforted by his friends on the football team. 

Penelope doesn’t tell them about what had happened with Josie, too tired to dive into it and get hounded by questions. It’s not a big deal anyway. Her and Josie are going back to the way things were, she’s still dating Connor, and hopefully all tensions between the girls are gone. 

Hope calls Freya to pick them up since the mood was dying down with more and more people leaving. 

Not quite ready for the night to be over, Lizzie and Hope decide on going to MG’s party, however, Penelope is too exhausted to join them and asks Freya to drop her off at her house. All she wants to do is sit on her roof before she loses the chance to when the storm comes. 

So here was Penelope, sitting on her roof at almost midnight, breathing in the fresh air while the rest of her classmates were having the time of their lives at raucous afterparties. She’s mildly disappointed that the clouds are covering the stars tonight, so she spends her time thinking and observing her neighborhood, which was not as quiet as it usually is and she blames her classmates for that. Penelope doesn’t understand the reason she keeps her dress on, she knows Lizzie would throw a fit if the blonde ever found her like this, sitting on and wrinkling her perfect dress.

The air was thick with mist, just enough for Penelope to feel the moisture in the air but not thick enough to inhibit her sight. Looking out into the night, an abrupt clap of thunder breaks the peacefulness of her quiet little world, signaling that it was almost time for her to go back inside. 

As she surveys the neighborhood one last time, a bright, yellow tinted light cuts through her vision, and she trains her gaze down to see a car pulling into the Saltzman driveway. Penelope watches in curiosity.

All of a sudden, a figure steps out of the car and for a moment, Penelope fears that the person is Lizzie, who had somehow found out that she was ruining her dress and has come to yell at her.

But when the figure comes closer, Penelope could do nothing but gape as _Josie_ appears in her sight, her lavender dress still clinging to her body as she marches towards her house and stops directly below her. 

“I lied.”

“Josie, what are you doing here?”

“I don’t want to be friends.”

The comment would’ve stung her if she wasn’t so confused. “Uh...okay. But why did you drive all the way here to tell me that-”

“Penelope Park, I am in love with you!”

The world comes to a halting stop. A million thoughts are racing through her mind right now, and Penelope doesn’t know if she heard correctly, or if this is a figment of her imagination. Huh, maybe that punch was spiked after all.

At this point, she doesn’t know what to expect from Josie anymore, the girl is always all over the place with her feelings and if Penelope has learned anything from past weeks, it’s that Josie continues to surprise her. In good and bad ways. 

“Josie, where is this coming from?”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Josie tilts her head up to address Penelope. 

“I still remember that night on the roof. Two years ago, when you moved here.”

_Josie remembers?_

Penelope’s eyes widened as she looked down at the girl, who was staring at her with such a fiery intensity that Penelope didn’t know she even had. 

“I remember listening to Lizzie ramble on and on about ‘the new girl who moved in next door’. I remember getting curious but not curious enough to walk over to your house to meet you. I didn’t know who you were. Maybe you were gonna be nice, but I didn’t think I was ever going to talk to you.” 

Josie swallows the lump in her throat, her nervousness vibrating in her chest. There’s another silence between them, and Penelope’s wondering if that’s all Josie really wanted to say before the other girl finally speaks again. 

“Until I looked out my window later that night, and I saw you sitting on your roof, and..something inside me changed. To this day, I still don’t know what compelled me to go outside and sit on my roof with you.” Josie glances at her own roof, reminiscing about that day before continuing. 

“After that night... I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I was curious by the shroud of mysteriousness you seemed to have. I was charmed after you waved at me. I was so enamored by your...beauty. You didn’t know it, but I’ve always noticed you. Whether it was at school or whenever you came over for my dad or Lizzie, it was as if you were always there. And deep down, I think I’ve always wanted you to notice me too.” Josie smiles almost sadly. 

Penelope can feel her heart race at the admission. Every time she went over to the Saltzman house for Lizzie or Alaric, she’d always avoid Josie because it seemed as if Josie never cared to associate herself with her. She never thought in a million years that Josie would feel the same way. 

“But why? Why didn’t you say anything before?”

Josie shifts uncomfortably, wrapping her bare arms around herself. Another clap of thunder sounds above them but they pay no attention to it. 

“I know it’s stupid, but I’ve felt that you never saw me as anybody but ‘Lizzie’s sister’. And maybe popularity _did_ play a part in it.” Josie looked down guilty. “I’ve never told anyone this, but I’ve always felt that it was my fault that Lizzie and I drifted apart. When I became head cheerleader, there was a certain image I wanted to maintain because Lizzie and I got stuck in this weird place. I felt that the only choice I had was to play the person I was supposed to be.” 

Josie peered up at her. “Maybe I was scared. And selfish. But I dated Connor because that’s what I was supposed to do. He’s what I thought I deserved. And for the past two years, I hated myself for ignoring you every time you came over, I hated how I always hid behind a terrible boyfriend, and I absolutely _hated_ how jealous I was of my sister for having the one person I couldn’t have. So when we started talking on these roofs the past few months, I realized that you were better than everything I imagined.” 

“I meant what I said earlier. You _are_ genuine. You _do_ care about me. I don’t have to pretend to be someone else when I’m around you. I forget all of the regrets I have, the _guilt_ I have when I’m around you. ” Josie gave her a small smile. 

The hurt that was lingering in the depths of Penelope’s heart begins to subside, but she still keeps her guard up. She’s still afraid to give herself false hope. Rain was lightly drizzling on them now. 

“I’m not trying to excuse all of the hurtful things I said before, but I was so terrified of my growing feelings for you. You were a threat to the image I thought I was forced to maintain. And it wasn’t because you didn’t fit in my friends or my life, because you did. You were the thing that made me question who I am. And it scared me so much, so I pushed you away, and lied and forced myself deeper into a relationship that I wasn’t happy with. You were always right about him.” Josie admitted ashamedly, before her expression changed into something more determined. 

_Is this real life?_

With her heart hammering loudly in her chest, Penelope swallowed. “So what are you saying?”

“I broke up with Connor. I’m done pretending. I’m done caring about what other people might think about me. And most of all, I’m sorry for all the hurt I caused you. I realize now that everything I did, I did to run away from the fact that I’m in love with you.” The rain is steadily coming down now, but it doesn’t stop the wide smile of hope that blooms across Josie’s face as she calls out to her. “I’m in love with you, Penelope Park! And...I’d really like to do all the things I should’ve done two years ago.”

Penelope is still processing the scene of it all- Josie, still in that lavender dress, standing in the middle of the pouring rain, telling her that she loves her. 

Josie loves her. Josie loves _her_. She’s loved her this whole time. 

“I-”

She doesn’t hear anything Josie says afterwards- she’s climbing through her bedroom window and her feet are carrying her down the stairs, through her living room, and out the front door. 

She wastes no time as she advances to Josie in the rain. She doesn’t care that she’s barefoot. Her dress is most definitely ruined now but it doesn’t matter. Nothing else matters anymore. 

“You really do talk too much.” Penelope says before yanking Josie into a searing kiss. 

Immediately, Josie eagerly gives back, tangling her hands in Penelope’s dark locks and deepening the kiss. Penelope latches her hands onto Josie’s waist and tugs her in. She didn’t think she was ever going to experience this feeling again- their bodies molding together and holding Josie in her arms, but now it’s happening and everything feels just right. 

When Josie’s soft lips part, she drags her tongue across Josie’s bottom lip before slipping it in and Josie lets out a quiet moan. The rain is merciless as it comes down, the water droplets thump hard against her back, yet it almost serves as a curtain from the rest of the world. 

Penelope moves her hands down to Josie’s hips and holds her tightly, releasing all of the pain and yearning of the last two years into the kiss. Josie responds by gripping her hair tighter and pulling her even closer. Running out of air, Penelope pulls away and catches her breath. She searches Josie’s face. 

“What changed?”

Even without the stars, Josie’s eyes are sparkling as she rests her forehead against hers, whispering, “When I was standing on that stage, with Connor, with the tiara, with everything I could ever want, that’s when I realized that all I wanted was you.”

It’s hard for Penelope to contain the giddy grin that splits her face. The girl on the roof was finally hers. 

And as Penelope kisses Josie again, underneath the pouring rain, she feels her own fairytale coming true. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RAIN KISS RAIN KISS RAIN KISS
> 
> Did anyone catch the Booksmart reference? I hope you guys really enjoyed this ending! It was really fun to write! I have an epilogue outlined but I don't know when that would be coming out, hopefully soon. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read this fic, all of your kind comments, and your support. Talk to me on my twitter and cc!
> 
> -selfishpenelope


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